Suitable Verse

Once again, it’s Limerick-Off time. I hope you’ll join me in writing a limerick with this first line:

A man who owned only one suit…

Here’s mine. (It’s a six-verse limerick, but a standard one-verse limerick is fine, of course.)

Suitable Verse
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A man who owned only one suit
Could afford many more with his loot.
But he hated to wear’em
And just could not bear’em,
Which led to a workplace dispute.

The co that he worked for was sold.
“The new owner likes suits,” he was told.
“That’s too bad,” he replied.
“I just can not abide
Dressing up and I won’t be controlled.”

“Read my memo — now suits are a must,”
He was warned. “You must look upper crust.”
He replied, “Won’t comply!”
“Then I bid you goodbye,”
Said the buyer, with scorn and disgust.

“But wait, there’s a suit that I like,”
He responded. “I won’t take a hike.
It’s a suit of this sort:
I shall take you to court.
Watch your legal bills mount up and spike.”

The new owner refused to back down.
He assumed that the guy was a clown
Who never would sue.
That assumption, he’d rue.
He soon learned that this “clown” owned the town.

Yes, he worked just for fun — that’s the hitch.
He missed working — it gave him an itch.
So he did file that suit
And won even more loot.
Then he bought out the co. Ain’t that rich?

Please feel free to write your own limerick using the same first line and post it in my comments. And if you’re on Facebook, I hope you’ll join my friends in that same activity in my Facebook Limerick-Off post.

And if you’d like to receive an email alert whenever I post a new Limerick-Off, please send me an email requesting Limerick-Off first line alerts. You’ll find my email address on the upper right sidebar, right above my photo. Thanks!

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25 Responses to “Suitable Verse”

  1. Elisson says:

    A man who owned only one suit
    Would stuff boxer shorts in his boot.
    Thus attired each day,
    He had nought to say,
    And, likewise, his friends all were mute.

  2. Sally Franz says:

    A man who owned only one suit
    Was shy and yet here’s the scoop
    He wore it in the shower
    And at rather odd hours
    Twas a Birthday Suit, to boot

  3. Alice Henson says:

    A man who owned only one suit
    Declared he gave nary a hoot
    If it rained or it snowed
    Or the wind fiercely blowed
    Or the trees were pulled up by their root

  4. AlmondJoycie says:

    A man who owned only one suit
    One bow tie, one sneaker, one boot.
    Swaggered into town,
    He looked more like a clown
    Or perhaps a man of ill-repute.

  5. Vivek Banerjee says:

    A man who owned only one suit
    Once visited a house of ill repute
    But once he had his way
    He flatly refused to pay
    In lieu of money, they kept his suit.

  6. madkane says:

    I’m enjoying these! Thanks, and please keep them coming.

  7. steve vitoff says:

    A man who owned only one suit
    Did something not very astute
    Just about to retire
    He set it on fire
    While smoking a stubby cheroot

  8. Dr. Goose says:

    A man who had only one suit,
    So as not to befoul his commute,
    Would hang up his slacks
    From the overhead rack
    And spray with “Febreze” while en route.

  9. A man who had only one suit
    When doused, in an angry dispute,
    With a glassful of wine
    Said, “That’s perfectly fine.
    It was time for a change – ain’t it cute?”

  10. Here’s mine:

    WARDROBE MALE-FUNCTION

    CTRL-CLICK on the link to open the limerick in a new internet window – without leaving MAD KANE.

  11. Veralynne says:

    A man who owned only one suit
    Acting at work like a brute
    Thus others would shun him
    And he had only one whim
    To give ’em all a kick in the boot

    His hatefulness lasted all day
    While at work he didn’t earn his pay
    He growled and griped
    While his boss spied and sniped
    Adding insult to injury I’d say

    The man’s therapy bill went up and up
    Getting nowhere his doc said I’ve given up
    His boss, too, had had it
    His last pay envelope was padded
    And he strode out somehow with his head up

    The next day he burned his one suit
    Deciding to use his severance to scoot
    To the far north so that
    He could wear jeans, parka, and a fur hat!
    He’s now a lumberjack, never having dreamt he could do it.

  12. ms pie says:

    was so happy to get yr invite… always loved yr limericks but tho i try could never signify a worthy one… here goes *note poet in training*

    a man had only one suit
    holy and pure he didn’t give a hoot
    basking in glory
    he read blue stories
    beaming there are no absolutes

  13. k bhattacharya says:

    One Suit Disorder

    A man who owned only one suit,
    Accidentally stepped upon a bandicoot
    Justifiably annoyed
    The marsupial deployed
    Its foot to trip the man with the suit with a kangaroo boot

  14. Lilibeth says:

    A man who owned only one suit
    Wore it proudly and said, “What a hoot!
    It’s as comfy as can be
    And I got it for free
    For stealing a bank full of loot.

    When asked what he thought of the style
    He answered, “Well after a while,
    the stripes get annoying,
    And the odor is cloying
    But complaining would just be futile.”

    Suit Limerick

  15. Steve Vitoff says:

    A man who had only one suit
    Was decidedly irresolute
    Should he spend all his days
    In a half-addled haze
    Or enlist in the Tonton Macoute?

  16. Steve Vitoff says:

    dr goose… love it!!

  17. madkane says:

    What a fun selection of limericks. Please keep them coming. And if you’re on Facebook, please cross-post there. Thanks!

  18. Shubd says:

    A man who had only one suit
    Also had a solitary leather boot
    His right would limp when he wore it on his left
    And his left would limp when of the boot ’twas bereft.
    Now with both his feet sore , he had to wrap them in jute.

  19. Daisy Mae says:

    The man who owned only one suit
    Is my son, the 3L – (sans loot!)
    Who loves IP/E cases
    (NO ambulance chases!)
    Any help for his dream job pursuit?

    Since his youth he knew he’d aspire
    To become an accomplished ‘esquire’
    His known career journey
    Was to be an attorney
    But alas! No jobs–the straits dire!!

    (Pardon my shameless, shameless post! Desperate times call for desperate limericks!)

  20. Johanna Richmond says:

    “A man who owned only one suit,
    Lest he linger in cruel disrepute,
    Donned his wife’s blouse and bloomers,
    Cried, “Fooey!” to rumors,
    Tween mouthfuls of forbidden fruit!”

  21. Jim Conrad says:

    A man who owned only one suit
    Was really a nasty old coot
    So foul was his temper
    His wife gave a whimper
    And replaced it with one made of jute

  22. madkane says:

    Oh good! More fun limericks! Thanks, and please keep them coming!

  23. Shubd says:

    A man who owned only one suit
    Thought a bank ,he would loot.
    But the suit did rip during the getaway.
    And that tatter was a major giveaway.
    Now he wishes he’d followed an honorable pursuit .

  24. Edmund Weisberg says:

    A man who had only one suit,
    But three wives and a mistress to boot,
    Surely tempted fate,
    Dating a new mate
    While his wives took careful aim to shoot.

    *

    A man who had only one suit,
    Sundry undies, pajamas, and one boot
    Was living a lie
    With nary a tie,
    For as a nudist, his few clothes were moot.

    *

    A man who had only one suit,
    But suffered no shortage of loot,
    On a shopping spree,
    Wisely purchased me,
    For I’m sexy and always a hoot.

    *

    A man who had only one suit,
    Removed it during a showing of Klute.
    And in the dark and buff
    He couldn’t get enough
    Of his neighbors, one straight, one fruit.

    *

    A man who had only one suit,
    Once tossed it in a laundry chute.
    With a touch of terror
    He realized his error
    For in a pocket was his new pet newt.

    *

    A man who had only one suit,
    Besides his birthday one there was his zoot,
    Was known for his flair,
    In his zoot or bare,
    Playing “Misty” on his trusty lute.

    *

    A man who had only one suit,
    Which, for attorneys, can get one the boot,
    Was hardly rapacious
    Much less sagacious
    And for a lawyer was far from astute.

    *

    A man who had only one suit,
    A leisure that was anything but cute,
    Also had just one ball
    Which he lost in a fall,
    Leaving him a high-pitched old coot.

    *

    A man who had only one suit,
    Through which he was known often to poot,
    Couldn’t help turning heads
    As his gas-blown threads
    Emitted an aroma too acute.

    *

    A man who had only one suit
    Was involved in an unholy pursuit
    Of cards, sex, and booze,
    Which was hardly news
    To his wife who was consorting with Newt.

    *

    A man who had only one suit
    Was no cardshark but surely a brute,
    As he threw cards and cried
    When he sadly descried
    A straight flush in Crazy Eights is moot.

    *

    A man who had only one suit
    Visited a house of ill repute
    Where he doffed said clothes,
    Put on panty hose,
    And serenaded all on his flute.

    *

    A man who had only one suit
    Was anything but destitute,
    For he had his hummus
    And piles of pomace
    And a cache of cash at home in Beirut.

    *

    A man who had only one suit
    Had more than one nice attribute.
    Witty, charming and warm
    And known, too, for his form,
    He had a bald butt but pate hirsute.

    *

    A man who had only one suit
    Was once a woman in hot pursuit
    Of a different shape,
    A hairier nape,
    And new identity to take root.

  25. madkane says:

    Edmund, you are certainly prolific. Thanks for your many fun limericks. Hope to see you back next week for my next Limerick-Off.