I’m experimenting with a new (to me) type of light verse: the clerihew. Wikipedia provides several examples and describes the form as follows:
* It is biographical and usually whimsical, showing the subject from an unusual point of view; it pokes fun at mostly famous people
* It has four lines of irregular length (for comic effect); the third and fourth lines are usually longer than the first two
* The rhyme structure is AABB; the subject matter and wording are often humorously contrived in order to achieve a rhyme
*The first line consists solely (or almost solely) of the subject’s name.
I’ve written a pair of clerihews about two former U.S. Presidents, Jimmy Carter and George W. Bush:
Jimmy Carter,
Energy martyr.
Warned we’d be debtors,
Looked lousy in sweaters.
George W. Bush,
A pain in the tush.
Less nasty and brainy
Than running mate Cheney.
Haley’s Barbaric Attitude
Tuesday, June 8th, 2010While Govs. Bobby Jindal (R-La.), Charlie Crist (I-Fla.), and Bob Riley (R-Ala.) seem to take the Gulf oil spill crisis very seriously, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) has been downplaying the disaster, talking as if it’s a fictitious crisis created by the media.
For instance, according to Barbour, “tar balls are no big deal.”
That brings me to my latest limerick:
Haley’s Barbaric Attitude
By Madeleine Begun Kane
Don’t worry, be happy, says Haley,
In spite of the news we get daily.
Just ignore the press squeal.
The spill’s no big deal.
Must be nice to view crises so gaily.
Related Post: Oily Obstruction
Tags: Bob Riley, Bobby Jindal, BP, Charlie Crist, Environment, Gulf Of Mexico, Haley Barbour, Media Humor, Mississippi, Oil Disasters, Tourism
Posted in Energy Humor, Environment Satire, George Bush Satire, GOP Humor, Media Satire, Political Commentary, Political Verse, Politics Satire, Republicans Humor, White House | 4 Comments »