Celebrate a little verse of nonsense, Happy National Limerick Day!
Last updated January 5th, 2018
There is nothing like reading a good bit of nonsense verse to take you away from the swirling vortex of insanity in which our busy lives have us entrapped! Just like watching a YouTube cat video or a funny cat meme gives you the chuckles, a funny limerick always lightens the mood. Today is National Limerick Day which honors the birthday of English artist, author, poet and illustrator, Edward Lear, born in 1812. Limericks were popularized in his “Book of Nonsense” in 1846 and in it, “The Owl and the Pussy Cat” stands out as one of the more memorable verses from my childhood. Why would a carnivore and a bird want to marry and sail away in a pea green boat? Were they eloping? Were they just free-spirited bohemians who defied society’s conventions? The ambiguity and quirkiness of these poems make it all the more silly and has prompted me to write a few of my own. The protagonist for my limericks is none other than our resident class clown, Mr. Jack. Why him? Because if he were sitting in that pea green boat, they would never have “sailed away for a year and a day”. No, he would have blown the five-pound note on catnip and partied all night long with his friends.
