Clean Limerick Challenge!

[Reilley]

There once was a man from Nantucket
Who put all of his fish in one bucket.
He saw just in time
That he was in a dirty rhyme
So he simply decided to chuck it.

Limericks are almost never clean
Read a few and see what I mean
Most of them are quite naughty,
Earthy, horny and bawdy
Tame ones are few and far between.

The limericks that I like the best
Are those that put morals to the test.
The ones that are so mild
They can be told to a child
Stand head and shoulders above the rest.

The trick is in not thinking dirty
Which is difficult if you are under thirty.
So stay away from things biological
And all things scatological
And try not to make it too wordy.

Limericks depend on rhythm and rhyme
To draw one in time after time
So if you get the sing-song
It does not matter how long
The first, second or fifth line.

So gather your writing paraphernalia
And revel in word loving bacchanalia
Sift through a big batch
Just to find the right match
For a difficult word like Australia.

So try some clean limericks, if you dare
I challenge you to show your word flair
Stir up your own inner bard
Choose words you think quite hard
And go out on a wing and a prayer.

[Brigid Briton]

Hi Reilley,

Thanks so much for issuing a challenge to us. You are certainly an ambitious limerick writer. Unfortunately, it's much to early in the day for my mind to wrap itself around the creation of a response for you. Perhaps after a bit of coffee...

Brigid

[Fire Monkey]

A good challenge but I fear limericks are not something I have ever had a head for - still, I'll see if I can do some. It's funny how certain styles of poetry seem to become filled wit a certain ind of content - not that they have to, they just seem to anyway - as you say, most limericks are dirty, yet why should that be?

[Brigid Briton]

Hiya Reilley,

OK, I've been drinking coffee for three days, working up to this challenge. Here's my entry:

A bashful nun called Bree,
loved to sleep in a tree.

One day a white rabbit,
talked her out of her habit,

and now she writes poetry.


Just in case any of you might think this is autobiographical, I must say that I have never been a nun, nor do I know any white rabbits! (I do like trees a lot, though!)



Brigid

[SweetSilverBird]

A monkey-man we know as Tim,
thought poetry might just suit him.
So he polished his rhyme
And his pentametre time;
and he does it quite well on a whim! ;D

[Fire Monkey]

I may be biased, but I like it ;D

Also, given that I posted too rather dark poems tonight it is nice to have a cheery one posted by you that speaks of me

[Reilley]

A challenge on a poetry lover's site
Got a few of its readers to write
They wrote and gave it a shot
whether their first limerick or not
and both wording and meter was tight!

[dustandwater]

A challenge from poet-man Reilley,
A form often used rather wryly,
He said keep it clean,
Take an innocent theme,
One that can make a child smily.

[SweetSilverBird]

Oh that's charming!

[Fire Monkey]

I like it - very nice.

[dustandwater]

"Rain, rain, go away!"
Keep those heavy clouds at bay.
Thunder and lightning,
I find rather frightening,
So please, only sunshine today.

[Reilley]

All right Karl! Those were great, thank you so much for playing.

[Amanda Moore]

There once was a young maid named Purdy
Who loved to clean anything dirty
She'd scrub and she'd clean
She'd make a house gleam
And she never left any home germy

[Reilley]

Alright Amanda, thanks for playing! ;D