Limerick Ode To World Poetry Day — March 21st

So far, March has been a big month for celebratory limericks. I’ve already limericked about International Women’s Day, Daylight Savings Time, Pi Day, and St. Patrick’s Day. And now it’s time for a two-verse limerick celebrating World Poetry Day, which falls on March 21st:

Limerick Ode To World Poetry Day
By Madeleine Begun Kane

On World Poetry Day write some verse,
Or in poetry reading immerse.
Try a lim’rick, haiku,
Sonnet, ode, clerihew —
Something witty, or languid, or terse.

On World Poetry Day have some fun:
Compose quatrains, blank verse, or haibun.
Double dactyl, sestina —
The poet’s arena
Will even permit you to pun.

UPDATE: I discovered and corrected some serious errors on Wikipedia’s World Poetry Day page (Google’s top entry for the World Poetry Day topic.) The most glaring error was made more than a month ago, on February 15th, by someone who apparently was manipulating Wikipedia on behalf of a UK-based “global grocery and general merchandising retailer” named Tesco. All references to UNESCO, which had declared March 21st to be World Poetry Day, had been changed to TESCO.

I was stunned that nobody was monitoring Wikipedia well enough to catch and correct this error, and that it took me, an infrequent Wikipedia user, to fix it.

So let that be a lesson to people who rely on Wikipedia. While it’s often useful, it’s far from the gospel. And if you find errors there, be a good Internet citizen and fix them.

One more thing — I urge all poets and writers who are at all publicity-minded, to create their own Wikipedia page. Here’s mine.

UPDATE 2: Commenter Tilly Bud inspired me to combine my two limericks, turning them into a two-verse limerick. Thanks, Tilly!

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32 Responses to “Limerick Ode To World Poetry Day — March 21st”

  1. Veralynne Pepper says:

    Poetry options make my mind reel!
    Being unproductive, I feel like a heel.
    FB or movies will call
    And I’ll just drop the ball
    So you’ll never know quite how I feel.

  2. You do have fun with your limericks!

  3. scott says:

    Good job Mad!

    Madipedia?? Now there’s a site we could all trust.

  4. madkane says:

    Fun verse, Veralynne! LOL! And thanks J Cosmo and Scott!

  5. earlybird says:

    Fun verse. Well done for sorting out Wikipedia’s entry.

  6. Unesco to Tesco! What a cheek!
    It will not help the Tesco reputation- already earning a reputation for steam-roller sensitivity.
    So, well done, Madelein.

  7. Deborah says:

    Clever and fun, very well done :o)

  8. Susannah says:

    Good fun! Thanks for linking to I Saw Sunday (I was late posting mine this week, though at least I remembered to put the linky up on time so that everyone else could post! :-))

  9. Hansi says:

    On World Poetry Day I’m gonna be perverse
    Not write a word, nor utter a curse
    Cause I’ve come up short
    With nothing to report
    Not even some perverse verse, and that’s even worse.

  10. pamela says:

    Madeleine, love the limericks and thanks for the heads up.
    world poetry day, huh! I think I shall write a poem:)

  11. madkane says:

    Thanks for your fun verse Hansi, and thanks everyone for your nice comments.

  12. PhotoDiction says:

    Some fun limericks here. I haven’t written any since my high school days. Forgot how much fun they can be. I’ll have to go try to flush some out of my brain this week ;)

  13. Wow I didnt know anyone could have a wikipedia page! Fun poem about the various types of poetry!

  14. Jingle says:

    love the rhyming words.
    cheers.

  15. madkane says:

    Thanks, everyone for your enthusiastic words. And PhotoDiction, I hope you’ll consider participating in my weekly Limerick-Offs. I’ve just posted a new one.

  16. mad kane,

    A very clever, witty and humourous tribute to World Poetry Day.
    Interesting information about Wikipedia.

    Best wishes, Eileen

  17. madkane says:

    Thanks so much, Eileen!

  18. rachel says:

    Those are fantastic! You’ve honored World Poetry Day. :)

  19. brian says:

    ha…nice odes to poetry day…hope you enjoyed yours…

  20. Tilly Bud says:

    I like what you’ve done here. Can I ask why you numbered them instead of making them two halves of the same whole?

  21. Tilly Bud says:

    You look good in Wiki :)

  22. madkane says:

    Thanks so much Rachel, Brian, and Tilly.

    And Tilly, you make a good point. When I initially wrote and posted this, they felt like separate limericks. Even though I often write multi-verse limericks, they felt like stand-alone poems, and I’m not sure why.

    But after reading your comment, I’ve changed my mind and combined them. So thanks for inspiring me to re-think this. I do prefer them as one poem now. :)

  23. brenda w says:

    Entirely kosher…post what you want! I love these limericks. Light hearted and easy to trip off the tongue. Well done.
    ~Brenda

  24. Elaine Spall says:

    World Poetry Day…who knew? (obviously I didn’t) Not even going to attempt a limerick…’cause who can say it better?
    Thank you for ALWAYS making me smile!

  25. wolfsrosebud says:

    Poetry sounds like a lot of work…

  26. Like, like, like!

    Such a beautiful interpretation of the street art!

    face on the wall

  27. poemblaze says:

    Fun poetry about poetry!

  28. versebender says:

    Using your last line as a checklist. This was witty….check. Definitely not languid…no check. Terse…check if you mean “polished”…no if you mean brusque. In any event a very good limerick, but you have set the standard. Vb

  29. Fireblossom says:

    A double limerick! Sounds like a figure skating term!

  30. madkane says:

    Fireblossom, I do love to watch figure skating. :) Thanks everyone for your lovely comments!

  31. Kavita says:

    Oh yess indeed!! Did a lot of that on poetry day!! heheh… and had loadsa fun!!

    Your limericks, while being so cheery and light, are really inspiring, Madeleine!!

    (hugs)

  32. madkane says:

    Thanks so much, Kavita!