I’m pleased to have gotten an Honorable Mention in the Washington Post Style Invitational’s 16th annual Limerixicon limerick contest: Here’s my HM-earning limerick:
If you’re tempted to kiss or embrace
A stranger whose beauty and grace
Make her hard to resist,
Don’t do it! Her fist
Just might land in a delicate place.
There are some things you should NEVER say to someone who’s judging a limerick (or other poetry) contest. So I was amused to read that Pat Myers (who presides over the weekly Washington Post Style Invitational contests) received this message from a limerick contest entrant:
First of all I truly despise poetry in any and all of it’s forms. Mainly because I am horrific at both interpreting and creating it. Now on to my entries:
In my opinion, if you’re going to say something that stupid, the least you can do is say it via limerick. Perhaps something like this:
You should know that I truly despise
Ev’ry verse form, no matter the guise.
I can NOT even glean
What my own poems mean.
Now hurry and send me a prize.
And speaking of limerick contests, last week’s Limerick-Off is running for a second week, due to the holiday weekend. So please keep your limericks coming and post them here:
In a recent Washington Post Style Invitational contest, we were challenged to invent and define weather-related terms. You can read the excellent winning entries here.
And here are my losing entries:
Snow-Brawl: Two arctic storms battle it out.
Frizzly: Just damp enough to frizz your hair.
Withering Heights: Too miserably hot out to leave the house.
Itticane: Gender neutral term for hurricane, favored by most feminists. (Some feminists prefer Himmicane.)
Bellweather: Sunny forecast.
Rain Cower: Hide from a storm, usually under storefront awnings.
Congratulations to all the Washington Post Style Invitational limerick contest winners! (This is the contest I mentioned previously, where B-rhyme lines were provided.)
No, I didn’t win anything or earn an honorable mention. But I did write a limerick about losing:
A Loser Of A Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane
A contest was held by the Post,
But alas I’m unable to boast.
I submitted some verse —
Did not win, but won’t curse,
Though it seems that my entries are toast.
(Here’s my post about a previous WP Style Invitational limerick contest, where I managed to score an honorable mention.)
Somehow I managed to miss National Punctuation Day on Sept 24th. “Shame on me!”
Oh my — I just used an exclamation point! And I did it again!
As you can tell from my limerick, I’m not a big fan of the exclamation point, a/k/a the bang.
STOP YELLING!!!!!!!!!!!! (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Those points that are meant to exclaim
Often bug me. Yes, bangs seem quite lame.
I abuse them, at times,
When excited by rhymes!!!!
But usage that’s spare is my aim.
By the way, it isn’t too late to celebrate National Punctuation Day: NationalPunctuationDay.com is doing it with a punctuation-related haiku contest. (The deadline is September 30th.)
And speaking of contests, the Washington Post is hosting another limerick competition. (As I mentioned previously, I got an honorable mention in their last one.)
Anyway, the Washington Post’s latest limerick contest sounds like a lot of fun. Much like my Limerick-Offs, WP provides limerick lines. However, the WP contest is definitely harder than mine: I provide A-rhyme first lines, while the WP contest offers us B-rhyme lines.
The Washington Post contest deadline is October 4th. Good luck!
The Washington Post runs a yearly limerick writing competition as part of its Style Invitational and has just announced this year’s winners. No, I didn’t win, but I was pleased to receive an Honorable Mention.
If you’d like to read some clever, well-written limericks, I recommend reading the winning limericks.
And now, a limerick about writing limericks:
An Ode To The Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Writing lim’ricks is sometimes confusing
Cuz the rules can be tricky and bruising.
But their sing-songy beat
Can be fun — just don’t cheat.
Write them right and they’re very amusing.
Mad Kane (Madeleine Begun Kane) is a writer, musician, and "recovering lawyer." She won the Robert Benchley Society Award For Humor and enjoys writing limericks, song parodies, and current events haiku.
You can email her at madkane@madkane.com, visit her political humor blog, or stop by her home page.
