.
Pick-up Truck Dude
This dude in his old pick-up truck
Sped recklessly, riding his luck.
__He swerved ‘round the bend,
__Lost control in the end,
And got his truck stuck in the muck.
.
.
Sleeping Kitten
The kitten slept, feeling quite smug,
As snug as a bug in a rug.
__With her paws in the air,
__She dreamt she’d ensnare
The mouse with a cheese-flavored drug.
.
.
Stephen King
An author by name of Steve King
Touts slimy and grimy with zing.
__His tales of great fright
__Keep you up all night
Till you yearn for sweet birdies to sing.
.
.
Spicy Masala
Her first taste of spicy masala
Burned like a big spoonful of lava.
__She reached for her drink,
__Her scrunched face did think,
“Next time, I will try it with raita.”
.
.
Paddy Raghunathan is an IT Project Manager. His poems have appeared in Time Of Singing, A Journal For Christian Poetry, and in Ohio Poetry Association’s annual and ekphrastic anthologies. A translation of his from the Hindi language is featured in May 2023’s Creativity Webzine. In 2020, one of his sonnets appeared in the Cuyahoga County Library’s April Poetry Month collection online. In 2022, he was also a judge in Time Of Singing’s Ekphrastic Poetry Contest.
Paddy, I enjoyed your limericks. I also learned that raita is a perfect cooling food for spicy masala!
Thanks Roy.
Indeed it’s what we call the “fire extinguisher.” 😉
Glad you enjoyed the limericks.
Paddy
Slyly humorous, Paddy. You made me laugh! Well done.
Thank you sir.
Paddy, I love a good limerick. All were well done. I laughed out loud about spicy masala. Been there, done that!
Thanks Carey.
Oh, yes, you can’t beat a good limerick.
Thanks for the reads, Paddy.
Thanks Paul.
These are a delight, Paddy. Thanks for posting them.
Thanks, Rohini.
I’ve watched cats dreaming, but you, Paddy, surely came up with a unique concept for what might be in a feline dream!
Thanks, Margaret!
Huge fun, Paddy! As one who adores curry, I’m drawn to ‘Spicy Masala’ – raita is a necessity when I fancy something spicy! LOL
Thanks Susan! Your kind words mean a lot to me.
Best regards,
Paddy
I hate to be the one to tell you, Paddy, but no one else has seen fit to speak up. A proper limerick consists of anapests, in a 3-3-2-2-3 array. Amphibrachs are also used, to good effect, in limericks. I’m not sure that your poems here even qualify as limericks, since you have deformed them beyond recognition. Let me give you an ideal example of a proper limerick:
A reporter assigned Terra Haute
Came awake with a pen in her throat.
Since her lover had fled
And had left her for dead,
On her pillowcase “Murder” she wrote.
I hope this helps. As it happens, few authors attempting to write limericks understand the form any better than you do.
Ah C.B., you appear to be a purist.
Do note that Turco’s book of forms doesn’t insist that you use the 3-3-2-2-3 array. If you can, terrific, but you aren’t a killjoy if you don’t.
Also, anapests and iambs can intersperse, according to Turco’s book of forms.
My goal was to make folks laugh, and unfortunately I made you cringe. One of these days I will write an apology to you as a limerick in the strict 3-3-2-2-3 array you desire. 🙂
Dear Kip,
I think if you read these again, you will find that the meter is quite solid. They do not begin with anapests, they are in amphibrachs (or perhaps clipped anapests), which you have mentioned above. They are in the same style as these Edward Lear limericks: https://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/BoN/bon010.html (unless you don’t consider Lear’s up to snuff?)
-Evan Mantyk
Limericks demand a galloping rhythm, and I don’t care how one gets there as long as the meter is matched in rhyming lines. If Lear saw things differently, then too bad for him.
Limericks demand a galloping rhythm, and I don’t care how one gets there as long as the meter is matched in rhyming lines. If Lear saw things differently, then too bad for him.