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Family Limericks: Poetry Prompt

By Heather Eure 49 Comments

family limericks poetry promptWithin every family are a few eccentrics. Whether they are oddballs, lovable curmudgeons, or total crackpots, they’re yours. But, if you can run through the mental Rolodex of relatives and can’t find a nutty one—

Chances are, you are it.

Counting all the peculiarities of your tribe can either be exhausting or everything you need for a secret bingo game at the next family gathering. Rather than get frustrated with Uncle Albert and his aptitude for sharing the same story 20 years and counting, why not have fun with it?

Try It: Family Limericks

Think of a few quirky relatives in your family tree. Why not pay homage to their wackiness with a colorful limerick? Consider a particularly funny moment by theatrical Aunt Enid, a strange habit of your sibling, or any kind of familial oddity. Of course, feel free to change the name of the guilty party. You don’t want to be left out of the will, do you? Go ahead and get started, follow the simple form, and have some fun at their familial expense.

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Featured Poem

Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here is an irreverent limerick from Rick we enjoyed:

More frequent the higher they rise,
their scandals and rhetorical cries—
politicians’ statistics,
misinformed, solipsistic,
corrupt practices, lies and damn lies.

—by Rick Maxson

Photo by Eryne. Creative Commons via Flickr. Post by Heather Eure.

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  • Author
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Heather Eure
Heather Eure
Heather Eure has served as the Poetry Editor for the late Burnside Collective and Special Projects Editor for us at Tweetspeak Poetry. Her poems have appeared at Every Day Poems. Her wit has appeared just about everywhere she's ever showed up, and if you're lucky you were there to hear it.
Heather Eure
Latest posts by Heather Eure (see all)
  • Poetry Prompt: Misunderstood Lion - March 19, 2018
  • Animate: Lions & Lambs Poetry Prompt - March 12, 2018
  • Poetry Prompt: Behind the Velvet Rope - February 26, 2018

Filed Under: Blog, Family Poems, Limerick, poetry prompt, poetry teaching resources, writer's group resources, writing prompt

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Comments

  1. Laura Brown says

    April 17, 2017 at 8:26 am

    There once was a cousin from Lima
    who drew up a getaway schema.
    With her bag packed,
    through the hedgerow she hacked
    to sneak off and live with her Memaw.

    Reply
    • Donna Falcone says

      April 17, 2017 at 8:42 am

      Did she make it?

      Reply
      • Laura Brown says

        April 17, 2017 at 9:23 am

        Her parents arranged for a dragnet;
        The cops found no trace but an aglet.
        “Too young for a car,
        she can’t have gone far,”
        Mom surmised. “Grandma’s home is a magnet.”

        Reply
        • Donna Falcone says

          April 17, 2017 at 9:32 am

          Was her sentence harsh?

          Reply
          • LB says

            April 19, 2017 at 8:19 am

            Her running away was no crime.
            She returned the next day by bedtime.
            All three generations
            each in her life station
            wore a path through that hedge-hole in time.

        • Sandra Heska King says

          April 18, 2017 at 9:36 am

          Hysterical!

          Reply
          • Donna says

            April 19, 2017 at 9:21 am

            🙂 love

    • Rick Maxson says

      April 17, 2017 at 12:31 pm

      This one could turn into a novel.

      Reply
      • Sandra Heska King says

        April 18, 2017 at 9:36 am

        For sure!

        Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      April 18, 2017 at 8:23 pm

      How fun, Laura. This limerick made me smile.

      Reply
  2. Donna Falcone says

    April 17, 2017 at 8:38 am

    ” if you can run through the mental Rolodex of relatives and can’t find a nutty one—

    Chances are, you are it.”

    I am still HOWLING! 😀 😀 😀

    Reply
    • Rick Maxson says

      April 17, 2017 at 12:32 pm

      I thought this was a good one.

      Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      April 18, 2017 at 8:27 pm

      Glad you liked it!

      Reply
  3. Donna Falcone says

    April 17, 2017 at 8:49 am

    I remember dear Grandpa O’Neill,
    Whose card tricks did always appeal.
    He whispered my way
    “the next rainy Tuesday
    This card caper I will reveal.”

    ….. and he DID.

    Reply
    • Rick Maxson says

      April 17, 2017 at 12:33 pm

      Did he tell you how he did it?

      Reply
      • Donna Falcone says

        April 17, 2017 at 12:42 pm

        YES!!! He DID…. but it took a lot of rainy other days before we hit the next rainy Tuesday! I was watchful, and I think he’d forgotten the specific promise. I guess, to him, it sounded like something he would say, so he made good on it. 😉

        Reply
      • Donna Falcone says

        April 22, 2017 at 9:58 pm

        Ha ha I bet you were expecting a Limerick response, huh Rick? Just now dawned on me! LOL!

        Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      April 18, 2017 at 8:29 pm

      Aww. How dear, Donna. I hope you get to pass on the card trick, too.

      Reply
      • Donna Falcone says

        April 22, 2017 at 9:58 pm

        I can’t remember the trick… 🙂 But it’s a fun story!

        Reply
  4. Glynn says

    April 17, 2017 at 10:06 am

    She always thought she was hipper,
    Finding booze as more than a sipper.
    She walked into a bar
    To become a new star
    And ended a Bourbon Street stripper.

    Reply
    • Rick Maxson says

      April 17, 2017 at 12:48 pm

      So Bacharach‎ and David probably couldn’t work this into the line “parking cars and pumpin’ gas” and keep within the great melody. Let see how it works limerick style:

      The would-be stars all made the trips
      to Hollywood and worked for tips,
      but now they’re either parkin’ cars
      or mixing drinks in grill ‘n bars,
      or strippin’ down on Sunset Strip

      Reply
      • Maureen says

        April 18, 2017 at 11:15 am

        You’ve found your calling, Rick.

        Reply
      • Heather Eure says

        April 18, 2017 at 8:32 pm

        Nice.

        Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      April 18, 2017 at 8:31 pm

      AHAHA!! *snort!*
      This is awesome, Glynn.

      Reply
  5. Rick Maxson says

    April 17, 2017 at 10:25 am

    Uncle Ed, a misogynist’s dream,
    married Bessie and made her his queen.
    She seldom made passes
    by Ed and his glasses,
    where he’d hold them out to be cleaned.

    Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      April 18, 2017 at 8:35 pm

      Good stuff, Rick!
      (Geez, Ed.)

      Reply
  6. Maureen says

    April 17, 2017 at 12:31 pm

    Zoo Family

    The crane gave a hoot and just fled;
    Bao Bao to China was sped.
    While the red fox escaped,
    our gorillas just gaped,
    and Redd in his bed played dead.

    (Bao Bao, our panda, recently left the zoo for China. Redd is the National Zoo’s orangutan.)

    Reply
    • Rick Maxson says

      April 17, 2017 at 12:50 pm

      Very funny. You know how the song goes, “it’s all happening at the zoo”

      Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      April 18, 2017 at 8:38 pm

      So creative, Maureen.
      Safe travels, Bao Bao.

      Reply
  7. Rick Maxson says

    April 17, 2017 at 12:54 pm

    Thanks for posting my politerick, Heather.

    Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      April 18, 2017 at 8:38 pm

      You betcha.

      Reply
  8. Bethany R. says

    April 18, 2017 at 1:57 am

    Loved reading through all of these tonight. You all are a hoot!

    Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      April 18, 2017 at 8:39 pm

      Aren’t they fun?

      Reply
  9. Sandra Heska King says

    April 18, 2017 at 9:12 am

    Sister Mary the New York nun
    Came to visit one time just for fun
    Mom discovered too late
    She’d made a mistake
    And sauced my great aunt with some rum.

    Reply
    • Heather Eure says

      April 18, 2017 at 8:41 pm

      Party on, Sister Mary. Party on.

      Reply
  10. Sandra Heska King says

    April 18, 2017 at 9:34 am

    When his driving had gotten bizarre
    Grandpa’s kids tossed his keys very far
    So he hitched into town
    Laid good money down
    And simply came home with a new car.

    Reply
    • Sandra Heska King says

      April 18, 2017 at 10:50 am

      Revising:

      When his driving had gotten bizarre
      Grandpa’s kids tossed his keys very far
      So he hitched into town
      Laid some good money down
      And then simply brought home a new car.

      Reply
      • Maureen says

        April 18, 2017 at 11:16 am

        Sandra,

        You are a master at the form!

        Reply
        • Sandra Heska King says

          April 18, 2017 at 11:37 am

          I love limericks. Thanks, Maureen. 🙂

          Reply
      • Heather Eure says

        April 18, 2017 at 8:44 pm

        Grandpa: 1
        Kids: 0

        Reply
      • Katie says

        April 22, 2017 at 9:58 pm

        Love this! These have all been such fun. Thanks for sharing everyone:)

        Reply
  11. Monica Sharman says

    April 19, 2017 at 8:48 am

    Two sisters went by middle names,
    both their first names being the same.
    The one was Maria,
    the other … Maria.
    The dad claimed the mom was to blame.

    Reply
  12. Monica Sharman says

    April 19, 2017 at 3:04 pm

    See that fam’ly antique photograph?
    His debonair looks and his dash?
    What a story they wrote, eh?
    for “Lolo Bigote”—
    translation: Grandfather Moustache.

    Reply
    • Monica Sharman says

      April 19, 2017 at 3:05 pm

      Oh, my goodness. Limericks can be so hard, especially when you’re trying to rhyme with the Spanish word “bigote.”

      Reply
  13. Heather Eure says

    April 19, 2017 at 4:45 pm

    My Great Grandma Pearl from Saluda
    Rarely ever did what she shoulda
    After husband number three
    Died mysteriously
    She bought a ’74 Hemi ‘Cuda

    Reply
  14. Monica Sharman says

    April 19, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    Who knows how many of these genealogy stories can be believed. But anyway, the story goes …

    Descended from Both Sides of the Delaware Crossing

    With George Washington one man arrived
    ‘cross the river. The Hessians: surprised.
    One Hessian (who knew?)
    was an ancestor too,
    their descendants glad both men survived.

    Reply
  15. Katie says

    April 22, 2017 at 9:32 pm

    Although he was somewhat odd
    Even so, he had a great bod.
    Yes, our great uncle Toddy,
    we all could agree
    Among fam’ly, had no peer as a clod.

    Reply
  16. Katie says

    April 22, 2017 at 9:50 pm

    Aunt Kitty who lived in the city
    Was thought to be quite witty.
    She could make us all laugh
    ‘Till we cracked in half.
    Then gaze at us with such pity.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Animal Limericks: Poetry Prompt - says:
    April 24, 2017 at 8:00 am

    […] to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. We got a kick out of this cheeky limerick from […]

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