I was inspired to write both a limerick and a haiku when encountering the #weird prompt in Mastodon:
When weirdness prevails,
invading lives ev’ry day,
is weirdness still weird?
and
Dear hubby, you look rather weird;
Can’t get used to your black and white beard.
A chin that’s hair-free —
What sheer joy that would be!
So how ’bout it? Let’s get your face sheared!
Punctuation Day
questionable holiday
arrives without bang
Happy National Punctuation Day!
(I decided to provide that bang, after all.)
“Haiku Poetry Day?” That sounds lame!
And redundancy’s surely to blame.
Be concise! That’s no vice;
Won’t “Haiku Day” suffice?
Terse verses deserve a short name.
Happy Haiku Poetry Day! (April 17)
I’d like the freedom
to not write haiku today,
but my brain insists.
*****
I am at the stage
where I like being on stage
with or without one.
*****
My near-rhyme rejects
turned limerick leftovers
find homes in haiku.
*****
I’m often impressed
by the drawing power
of unknown painters.
*****
Forgive and forget?
I keep meaning to forgive,
but I forget to.
*****
Your belief system
makes you feel superior?
Then it’s failing you.
*****
My muse goes yonder
as I wander in wonder
at time I squander.
*****
Spiders and crawlers
are welcome in my domain
if sent by Google.
*****
I should have prepared
for extemporization
but ran out of time.
*****
Music needs pauses;
I get restless when a piece
doesn’t have any.
*****
No Reason For Rhyme? (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
I’ve been censured and cautioned to spurn
Burning yearnings to rhyme, as I learn
How to coax some haiku
Into being, but few
Have earned kudos. My critics are stern.
A Rhyme For All Seasons (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
No matter the time or the season,
I will conjure up rhymes for no reason.
And haiku ain’t immune;
They are often rhyme-strewn,
Although many view rhymes there as treason.
Shoveling Duty (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
It’s snowing, alas and alack,
And I just finished shov’ling — can’t slack
During storms this severe.
But I did it. Oh dear!
All the snow I removed has come back.
*****
Blizzard in progress.
I resent New York City
resembling Fargo.
*****
Oboe-playing years
armed my shoulders for shov’ling,
but failed to prep mind.
In honor of “Absurdity Day” and “Air Your Dirty Laundry Day,” here’s a pair of haiku:
“Absurdity Day”
How is this day different
from all other days?
*****
I don’t celebrate
“Air Your Dirty Laundry Day”
Because it’s a wash.
Why Haiku? (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
I’m too blue to stop writing haiku,
Though my readers are threat’ning to sue:
Want me back in the swing
Of my limerick thing,
But both reason and rhyme staged a coup.
Haiku On The Attack (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Haiku’s been assaulting my mind,
Mocking lim’ricks, who’re feeling maligned:
“Haiku’s pithy, sublime.
“Lim’rick’s frivolous rhyme!”
Begged my muse to crack wise — she declined.
Earlier this year, NASA held a Mars haiku contest, which was managed by the University of Colorado. You can read the winning Mars haiku entries here.
I didn’t win, but my second haiku (the sappy one) got just enough votes to qualify to be included in the DVD that will accompany MAVEN on its journey to and around the Red Planet.
Here are my two entries:
Sorry to barge in.
We don’t mean to make rubble,
but we’re out of space.
***
Earth’s promise to Mars:
We vow to treat you better
than we treat ourselves.
***
Passover practice:
Cut leavening from your bread.
Add it to your life.
Yet Another Valentine’s Day Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane
St. Valentine’s Day can be risky
Cuz the men folk do tend to get frisky.
And watch out for the pious:
They sure like to try us
Before and yes after their whiskey.
*****
St. Valentine’s Day
may be over in theory–
never in spirit.
An “Acrostic Fly Haiku,” as suggested by Acrostics Only:
Free-floating on air,
Light as a feather, it soars,
Yielding to a swat.
*****
A “Relief Haiku,” as suggested by Sensational Haiku Wednesday:
Writing on deadline—
no ideas, none, nada.
Then, at last, relief.
*****
Forking over rent—
More than many can handle
if they like food too.
*****
Crafting a poem
takes work, skill, art, cleverness.
Damn … I left out wit.
*****
Foretell the future?
Easy! Just predict that you’ll
break resolutions.
*****
Why bother making
fresh New Year’s resolutions?
Re-attempt last year’s.
*****
The first haiku was prompted by Theme Thursday’s future prompt.
This haiku quartet was inspired by sundry poetry prompts linked below:
Preoccupation:
the state you’re in right before
landing a new job.
*****
Haiku can uplift
all our holiday spirits.
Better yet — champagne.
*****
Our poetry prompts—
an unhealthy obsession?
No! When’s the next one?
*****
If I could create
a lovely haiku today,
I’d be ecstatic.
*****
These haiku were written for these prompts: Occupy, Spirit, Ecstasy, Health and for The Purple Treehouse’s Haiku Prompt.
Jenn’s haiku theme this week is flare. So I decided to have some homonym fun, writing a flair limerick and a flare haiku:
A woman who dressed with much flair,
Wearing clothes I for one would not dare,
One morning looked odd—
Neither stylish, nor mod—
Alas, she was utterly bare.
*****
When bad tempers flare,
they tend to bare* grievances
best left buried.
*****
*In my haiku, I changed bear to bare after my husband Mark pointed out my error. Since I’m always pointing out his errors, Mark really enjoyed this. :)
One of my favorite poetry prompt sites, One Single Impression, has asked its poet-participants to propose word prompts for upcoming editions. I suggested the word “amuse,” which will be used next week, starting September 25th. Here’s a limerick and haiku I wrote for the occasion:
Amusing Verse … I Hope
By Madeleine Begun Kane
I try to amuse when I write,
In my quest to pen verse that has bite.
But sometimes my muse
Lets me down. Yes j’accuse!
I suspect that it does it for spite.
*****
Poetry prompt sites
inspire, amuse, bring friends,
awaken muses.
*****
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.
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