Archive for the ‘Weather Humor’ Category

Foreign News Blues (Limerick)

Thursday, February 27th, 2014

Foreign News Blues (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

It’s so windy, I have to go out:
Foreign papers are scattered about.
Though I clean up our yard,
It’s soon once again scarred.
This paper route’s making me pout.

True story: This afternoon, I look out our living room window and see that our front lawn is strewn with newspapers. It’s a windy day, and a neighbor’s Korean (I think) newspaper has apparently made a run for it.

I immediately stop what I’m doing and go outdoors to contend with the litter. Why the big rush? Because New York City Sanitation workers just love to peruse neighborhoods during windstorms, so they can give out messy-lawn citations.

Ten minutes after I finish, I look out the window once again, only to find that it looks like I never dealt with the garbage. So I go out once again, this time picking up similar-looking papers from the neighbors on either side of me, as well.

No, I won’t take credit for being a Good Samaritan. This was purely defensive.

It was only a matter of time before my neighbors’ messes decided they like my lawn better.

Post-Valentine’s Day Ode

Saturday, February 15th, 2014

Post-Valentine’s Day Ode
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Shoveling snow–
Not my favorite chore.
Mark did it for me.
That’s what marriage is for.

Weathering Humor

Thursday, February 13th, 2014

In a recent Washington Post Style Invitational contest, we were challenged to invent and define weather-related terms. You can read the excellent winning entries here.

And here are my losing entries:

Snow-Brawl: Two arctic storms battle it out.

Frizzly: Just damp enough to frizz your hair.

Withering Heights: Too miserably hot out to leave the house.

Itticane: Gender neutral term for hurricane, favored by most feminists. (Some feminists prefer Himmicane.)

Bellweather: Sunny forecast.

Rain Cower: Hide from a storm, usually under storefront awnings.

Cold and Bothered (Quatrain)

Tuesday, January 7th, 2014

Cold and Bothered (Quatrain)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

I live in a town where it’s pleasant to stroll.
We do most of our errands on foot.
But it’s frightfully cold. “Let’s stay home,” I cajole.
Forget milk! Let’s be smart and stay put.

(January 11 is National Milk Day.)

Another Snow Job (Limerick)

Tuesday, December 17th, 2013

Another Snow Job (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Dear Mark, thanks for shov’ling today.
If you hadn’t, that snow’d surely stay
Until I did the chore,
A job I abhor.
It’s more fun to make limerick hay.

Beached Plans (Limerick)

Friday, May 24th, 2013

I sure hope your Memorial Day weekend weather’s better than ours, here in New York.

Beached Plans (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Though Memorial Day is upon us,
Winter clothing continues to don us.
So I plead and beseech:
Kindly stop talking “beach.”
New York media’s trying to con us.

Spring? You’re Kidding, Right? (Limerick)

Tuesday, March 19th, 2013

Spring? You’re Kidding, Right? (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Spring is legally set to begin,
Which in light of the weather’s a sin:
Last night we had snow,
Sleet, and ice here and so
There’s a seasonal mix-up herein.

NOT Hailing This Storm (Limerick)

Friday, February 8th, 2013

NOT Hailing This Storm (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A blizzard’s upon us. I’m worried,
Cuz in over a foot we’ll be buried.
The prelude is hail,
Then snow by the bale.
If only our snow flakes just flurried.

Limerick Ode To Groundhog Day

Saturday, February 2nd, 2013

Limerick Ode To Groundhog Day
By Madeleine Begun Kane

There’s an animal hogging the news
And casting a shadow on views.
It’s the groundhog, of course:
Our annual source
Of featherbrained seasonal clues.

Happy Groundhog Day! (February 2nd.) And for more groundhog poetry, visit DVerse Poets.

Halloween Haiku (2012)

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

Though schools remain closed,
trick-or-treat stash is untouched:
Halloween Sandy.

*****

Hurricane Sandy
sure outpaces Halloween
in sheer spookiness.

Limerick Explanation (Limerick-Off Monday)

Sunday, August 12th, 2012

It’s Limerick-Off time, once again. And that means I write a limerick, and you write your own, using the same first line. Then you post your limerick here and, if you’re a Facebook user, on Facebook too.

The best submission will be crowned Limerick Of The Week. (Here’s last week’s Limerick Of The Week Winner.)

How will your poems be judged? By meter, rhyme, cleverness, and humor. (If you’re feeling a bit fuzzy about limerick writing rules, here’s my How To Write A Limerick article.)

I’ll announce the Limerick of the Week Winner right before I post next week’s Limerick-Off. So that gives you a full week to submit your clever, polished verse.

I hope you’ll join me in writing a limerick with this first line:

A woman was asked to explain…*

or

A fellow was asked to explain…*

*(Minor variations to my first lines are acceptable, but rhyme words may not be altered.)

Here’s my limerick:

Limerick Explanation
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A woman was asked to explain
Why she liked taking walks in the rain.
“I’ve been told I look better
As I became wetter.”
‘Twas a snow job — she soaked up in vain.

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 on my Facebook Limerick-Off post.

To receive an email alert whenever I post a new Limerick-Off, please email Madkane@MadKane.com Subject: MadKane’s Newsletter. Thanks!

Farewell To May (Limerick)

Friday, June 1st, 2012

May is usually a beautiful month here in New York City. But not this year!

Farewell To May (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

It’s June 1st, which means farewell to May,
And good riddance — poor weather each day:
Way too hot, way too cold,
Way too rainy, all told.
Was May ever moderate? Nay!

Weathering Spring (Limerick)

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

Weathering Spring (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

I wonder just what is the reason
Why spring’s such an ornery season.
First it’s cold, then it’s hot,
Then it’s icy, then not —
Makes me ask whether spring is just teasin’.

(Think Tank Thursday prompts us to wonder.)

My Reluctant Limerick Ode To Spring

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

Spring’s here. The weather’s great! I have nothing to bitch about. What’s a poor limerick writer to do?

My Reluctant Limerick Ode To Spring
By Madeleine Begun Kane

In previous years, I would blast:
“Spring’s arrived. Please tell winter it’s passed.
“Cuz it seems not to know —
“We are still getting snow!”
I’m aghast — can’t lambaste — spring came fast.

Heated Limerick

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

Heated Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Nasty heat wave, I beg you, please cease
Cuz we need your high temps to decrease.
I don’t mean to complain,
But this weather’s a pain.
So stop it already! Capice?

Heated Limerick

Wednesday, June 8th, 2011

I don’t mean to bitch (okay, maybe I do) but it’s hot as hell here in New York. And weather forecasters are saying it will hit 100 degrees tomorrow.

But hey … there’s no global warming, right?

Heated Limerick
By Madeleine Begun Kane

One-hundred degrees? I may swoon.
Yes, I’m singing a very hot tune.
And I’m down in the mouth
Cuz this isn’t the south,
But Bayside, New York — early June.

Dear Calendar

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

Dear Calendar (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

Dear calendar, why are you lying?
You claim that it’s spring. I’m not buying.
We had one lovely day,
But now snow’s on the way.
You’ve betrayed us — there’s no use denying.

(Inspired by this spring prompt and, of course, the damn New York City weather. Posted also at Write A Letter, Jingle Poetry’s deception and misrepresentation prompt, and at Poetic Asides.)

Wintry Haiku Trio

Friday, February 18th, 2011

Nervous newcomer
slips and falls onto deep snow.
Makes bad impression.

*****

Valiant croci
strain to push through snow’s surface.
All retreat but one.

*****

My tossed-aside snow
returns to the cleared sidewalk.
An icy revenge.

(The first haiku is for the Haiku Heights impression prompt and the second one is for I Saw Sunday.)

Snow Job (A Limerick Duet)

Thursday, January 27th, 2011

Who needs to join a gym when you own a home in New York and experience … pardon my French … winter! Cardio? Check. Muscle building? Check. Seriously, there’s nothing quite like lifting a snow-packed shovel way over my head in my quest for a place to dump the damn stuff. I’m talking mountains of snow, some of it still lingering from December.

That brings me to my wintry mix of limericks:

I Need A Landlord, STAT
By Madeleine Begun Kane

While owning a home can be nice,
It isn’t all sugar and spice:
After snow and ice falls
There’s no landlord for calls
About shov’ling. That’s part of the price.

Lamentable Weather
By Madeleine Begun Kane

I know that it sounds like I’m wailing,
But it’s thund’ring and lightening and hailing.
It was snowing all day.
Now an ice storm? Okay,
It’s official. Can’t take it. I’m bailing.

Queens Unplowed (Limerick & Haiku)

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

Queens Unplowed (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

We’re in Bayside — no sign of a plow.
So our streets remain hazardous now.
The snow storm’s long done,
Yet no plow trucks. Not one!
Has Queens been neglected? And how!

Update: Here’s my haiku on the same subject:

Neglected Queens streets
Piled with snow and slick with ice.
Residents frosted.

Update 2 Yet another related haiku:

Manhattan tourists
Ask why Times Square looks so good:
Snow was shipped to Queens.

(More Queens blizzard and snow removal and Mayor Bloomberg stories and more snow verse here.)