The assignment: Limericks. Three of them. About birds or bees or both.
Let me tell you. It is hard not to be silly or bawdy in this form. Plus, you feel as if you should be drinking a Guinness while composing. Oh, well. It’s summer vacation. Let the fun begin!
Hummers
Sugar water dyed a deep red
as if Grandmother’s peonies bled
tempting jewel-hearted birds
whose hearts beat in thirds
to gather outside of our shed.
The Grackle
Everyone mocks the grackle
all mangy feathers and cackle
he swoops at our food
is nothing but rude
a pigeon, but truly ramshackle.
The Birds and the Bees
The bees and the birds coexist
in a sweetness that’s hard to resist.
When the meadow’s in bloom
we all can presume
that even the bugs will be kissed.
My sisters wrote some fabulous ones and you’ll find them here:
Sara
Tricia
Kelly
Tanita
Laura
And Poetry Friday is at Buffy’s Blog today! Enjoy, all!
I love that such intimacy with birds shines through in all yours. The grackle one is my favorite–ramshackle–brilliant!
“as if Grandmother’s peonies bled
tempting jewel-hearted birds
whose hearts beat in thirds”
Oh. My heart nearly stopped at that!
Also…yes to RAMSHACKLE. And to bugs being kissed.
Adore all of these!
I loved your birds and bees one esp.
“we all can presume
that even the bugs will be kissed.”
Oh, those mangy grackles! We chase them away from the bird feeders all the time!
It is TRULY hard not to be silly or bawdy — honestly! But, you made this look good! Adore those jewel-hearted birds.
I adore the last poem. And I’m with Laura, I LOVE that you used ramshackle!
Great limericks. I love that “even the bugs will be kissed.”
By the way, I’m reviewing a book of yours, and it will post 6/18. I hope you’ll look for it.
Thanks for the reminder to put up our hummingbird feeder! Great fun, especially the middle one. You perfectly summed up a grackle in 5 words: “all mangy feathers and cackle.” And now I want to write something with ramshackle!
These are all fun Liz, but I’m partial to”The Birds and the Bees, and that”the bugs will be kissed.” They’re sweet as honey, and I smiled all the way through, thanks!
Love these bird sketches, especially that ramshackle grackle!