Superstitious Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Superstitions don’t do any good.
Avoid them? I’d say that you should.
They’re irrational fears
And they merit our sneers.
I must go now and knock on some wood.
(Writer’s Island Prompt: Superstition)
As you can see from this verse, I’m inseparable from silliness:
Inseparable —
ventriloquist and dummy
joined at the quip.
Inseparable —
honeymooning newlyweds
joined at the lip.
Inseparable —
masochist and sadist
joined at the whip.
Inseparable —
gambler and his bookie
joined at the tip.
Inseparable —
compulsive gambler and debt
joined at the Strip.
Inseparable —
the hop and the jump
joined at the skip.
Inseparable —
Jewish moms and their children
joined at the guilt trip.
(Written for Writers Island’s inseparable prompt)
Nursing nostalgia,
the tribute bands play covers —
relive what wasn’t.
*****
The injured cellist,
forced to bow out of concerts,
retires her bow.
*****
The big bands play swing —
old couples dance joyously,
then reclaim their canes.
*****
Three childhood friendships —
treasured, instrumental —
piano, oboe, flute.
*****
(The first haiku was inspired by Writer’s Island’s tribute theme. The fourth haiku was inspired by Monday Memories’ friendship theme.)
String quartet concert
missing one violinist—
time to improvise.
*****
Cruising musician
garners Carnegie Hall gig—
fantasy at sea.
*****
Distracted jazzer
misplaces his melodies—
loses audience.
****
Clueless conductor
hurls baton at oboist—
finally a cue.
*****
Billy Joel said:
We Didn’t Start The Fire.
Maybe we need to.
*****
(My first and third haiku were inspired by The Writer’s Island improvise prompt. My second haiku was inspired by Haiku Wednesday’s fantasy prompt. My late addition 5th haiku was inspired by Sunday Scribblings’ fire prompt.)
When I’m not prompting people to write limericks in my Limerick-Offs, I often seek inspiration from other poets’ prompts, such as the Writer’s Island’s Saturday prompts. This week its word is clarity.
Uncharitable Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane
It sure is a relative rarity
To find pols who can think with some clarity.
Most pols don’t impress me.
Their follies distress me.
To say that they’re bright would be charity.
(You can find lots more political verse in my Mad Kane’s Political Madness Blog.)
When prompted to use the words curious, eventually, and shower in a poem, this haiku more or less wrote itself:
I am curious:
Will you eventually
Shower? I hope so.
And here’s another haiku, this one inspired by an earth-themed prompt:
There’s no earthly way
I’d ever vote for global
Warming deniers.
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.
