Posts Tagged ‘Under The Gun’

Limerick Dry Run (The Evolution of a Limerick)

Thursday, November 14th, 2013

When I’m looking for limerick ideas, I sometimes visit idiom list sites, like this one. Then I’ll select an idiom that might work meter-wise and that ends with a common rhyme sound.

And so today, I challenged myself to write a limerick that contains the phrase “dry run.” Unconsciously inspired, perhaps, by the inept roll-out of Obamacare, I wrote these two lines:

A software firm held a dry run
But the coding, alas, wasn’t done…

I swiftly thought up an acceptable “B-rhyme,” but then got stuck at line 5. The best I could come up with was an ending that employed yet another idiom: “under the gun.” But I still couldn’t think of a line 5 that was even slightly clever.

And then I got an idea: create some wordplay by revising another line, adding specificity to the subject matter. Here’s the result:

Limerick Dry Run
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A software firm held a dry run,
But the arms-tracking code wasn’t done.
It failed test after test,
Till the owner confessed:
“I’m too stressed to work under the gun.”

Happy National Escape Day (Jan 30th) (Limerick)

Tuesday, January 29th, 2013

So, is everyone ready for National Escape Day (January 30th)? I didn’t think so.

Here’s a limerick to celebrate, although I’m pretty sure this isn’t the sort of “escape” the holiday founders had in mind:

No Escape (Limerick)
By Madeleine Begun Kane

A felon was trying to run,
But his plan to escape was undone:
He tripped and he fell,
Tumbling into a well.
Never run while you’re under the gun.