Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Genea-poetry: Limericks, Haikus But No Quatrains

Well, if this doesn't beat all. Now I do love a challenge but this one has worn me out. I was up half the night because I kept trying to find a rhyme for Detroit, and then San Diego, and my brain would not shut off.

I tackled the limerick genre as well as haiku (I'm a fan but who knew?). I opted out of the odes, the villanelles, the sestinas (which seemed more like Sudoku) and especially the sonnets (when one started with "How shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Like that hot August in Zaire during the ebola outbreak . . ").

So here they are - this is about as creative as Thomas gets when he is two days away from a vacation where the daytime temp will be 65. Above.

Apple's Tree

Limerick:

There once was a gal from old Snowville
Whose apples were good and not evil
En route to Ann Arbor
Fun thoughts she did harbor
"Drive in style, not a bus, but a DeVille"

Haiku:

Road to Ann Arbor
Wheels they not go round and round
Find past and future

Creative Gene

Limerick:

There once was a gal from Detroit
who at blogging was known as adroit
her gene was creative
research would be so great if
she only had more time to exploit

Haiku:

Soft breeze from Detroit
She remembers mother's love
Help her blog her past

Hill Country of Monroe County, Missisippi

Limerick:

There once was a man from South US
to lose weight, banned fork under duress
the loss was a fight
and he blogged his great plight
so Sweetie his thighs she would caress

Haiku:

Hill Country I knew
dusty summer dirt roads
games to play all day

Kinexxions

Limerick:

There once was a gal from Ind'ana
searched for family including her nana
a Kinexxion she'd make
blogged the journey she'd take
finding Martians in Louisiana

Haiku:

Kosciusko girl
sought a Wise in Gilead
seeks now Hoffman too

footnote Maven

Limerick:

There once was a girl from Seattle
who fought for right cites, 'twas her battle
known as footnote the Maven
proper form was her cravin'
to blog and not source was pure prattle

Haiku:

An Earth Day baby
love of books never-ending
fans wish her good health

Nordic Blue

Limerick:

There once was a girl from Richmond CA
who lives in a snow-bound chalet
from her warm and cozy desk
on a journey Kafka-esque
she seeks Nords, a hard find to her dismay

Haiku:

Blond daughter of Norge
family mist she recalls
search, write, blog, with great skill

geneablogie

Limerick:

There once was a man from Carmichael
search for kin was just like a bicycle
not as fast as a plane
"pedal hard, don't complain!"
he did say as he went up that high hill

Haiku:

American son
Checkered past not forgotten
seeks truth and answers

Smoky Mountain Family Historian

Limerick:

There once was a gal from Old Smoky
Sought Thorntons in a manner so low key
but with help from cuz' Terry
search was fun and not scary
not like foul and just wrong karaoke

Haiku:

Dixie Chick not quite
Loving soul, nights at home
finding family

Steve's Genealogy Blog

Limerick:

There once was a man from the Bay
looked for relatives quite far away
blogged his finds and successes
did it with such finesses
he could sing that he did it "My Way"

Haiku:

Albany from where
his roots they travel so far
Galicia too

West in New England

Limerick:

There once was a man from New England
an invite he wanted to extend
flutaphones he did dream
parade floats was the scheme
a great meme, fans did love without end

Haiku:

A book-sellng guy
"Young man go West" he knew
great blogging ensues

Genea-musings

Limerick:

There once was a young man from SD
blogged of musings about the genea
but what oft takes his heart
not a family chart
but grandchildren of which he has three

Haiku:

"Warm climes," said Randy
only cold I can locate
is "trail" whilst searching

Janet the Researcher

Limerick:

There once was a gal near Toronto
family trees was the goal and so pronto,
in her roots she did delve
used the web, books on shelve
and she blogged for her fans when she'd want to

Haiku:

"Cold climes," she did say
heart warmed by family finds
blogs it - a good read

AnceStories

Limerick:

There once was a gal out in Spokane
held a party where bloggers could scan
when she sent an IM
joking with all of them
so much fun there was none much better than

Haiku:

I said "Where you from?"
"land of snow and people warm"
she said Alaska

The I Seek Dead People Blog

Limerick:

There once was Lee from Carolina
whose blog people said "none was finah!"
dead people she oft sought
should be easy she thought
the results could induce bad angina

Haiku:

Willow water weep
those beyond she would find
whose tales went untold

Before My Time

Limerick:

There once was TK from out west
she did blog about much and with zest
she'd not often reveal
and thought "what's the big deal?"
'bout the Union Suit that she had possessed

Haiku:

Water, rain surround
her search but a small ripple
in the kin puddle

12 comments:

Becky Wiseman said...

Wow, great job, Thomas. I'm impressed, I struggled just to come up with one little poem!

Jasia said...

It's hard to type when I can't catch my breath... laughing so hard!!! I was reading along and thinking, "boy, he's really clever". Then I got to your limerick about Becky finding martians in LA and I just lost it!!!

Thanks for the bellyache (and now I have to go eat dinner) and the very nice limerick about me and my blog. ((hugs))

Lori Thornton said...

You are quite the poet!

Elizabeth O'Neal said...

Good heavens, when do you sleep? Very clever - I'm especially partial to haikus.

Craig Manson said...

Excellent! I have no such talent--I get a great thrill from those who. Haikus are hard--great job!

GreenmanTim said...

A Man with Dolls is Tom MacEntee
With curios diverse and plenty
To my cabinet proudly some sent he
And with captions he's deft,
For rhyme has a gift,
Erato herself must have sent thee!

Janice said...

Thomas, wow great presentation!!

I'm afraid you've been the victim, errr the subject of one of my poems...

Then Thomas, famed son of Clan MacEntee
States his family shaped him, in "About Me"
Write, homework or sleep--which activity does he?
He says everyone loves a blog plagarist
Surely as much as a great pilar cyst
I've been writing too long... press alt, del, control key.

Janice

Chery Kinnick said...

I respectfully bow to the master. What great haiku, and you wrote poems for a whole city, me thinks!

footnoteMaven said...

Ah, you have certainly captured the essence of me!

fM

Bill West said...

Oh how I wish I could be
As clever as Tom MacEntee
But I just couldn’t do
A decent haiku!
This was all I could do, as you see.

Terry Thornton said...

A poem for Thomas:

Thomas, blogger, who is out
And about "On Vacation!" he shouts
To make us all envy and pout.
Sometimes he rhymes to make us blush
But not so much that we cry "Hush."
Yes, Thomas is never a lout.

TERRY

TK said...

Belatedly, she responds in limer-ku:

"I must say I'm really quite pissed,
to see all the fun I have missed.
Whilst out of the loop,
I just eat, sleep, and poop,"
TK said, mumbling softly and whist-

fully, completely
abashed. "I'll never live down
that red Union suit!"