Dueling Limericks - Ides of March!
Poetry Contest
That's right, folks! March 15th [Beware the Ides of March!] is the day of reckoning made famous by William Shakespeare! Historically, it marked the first full moon (Id) of a new year in the Roman Republic. Ironically, it was Julius Caesar that reformed the Roman calendar and moved March to its '3rd Month' status. Of course, it was Julius Caesar who was murdered on the Ides of March two years after his still-utilized Julian Calendar.
In honor of this looming ominous occasion, this contest is:
a pair of limericks, one from each of two entities: one that has nefarious thoughts regarding someone in their lives and one that has no knowledge of or inkling that the one (or others) would like to see them GONE!
Remember, a limerick is a form of verse, usually humorous and frequently rude, in five-line, predominantly anapestic meter with a strict rhyme scheme of AABBA, in which the first, second and fifth line rhyme, while the third and fourth lines are shorter and share a different rhyme. Also, lines 1,2 and 5 should have 7 - 10 syllables and lines 3 and 4 should have 5 - 7 syllables (see example below).
The form was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th Century. Here is one of his many limericks:
There was a Young Person of Smyrna
Whose grandmother threatened to burn her.
But she seized on the cat,
and said 'Granny, burn that!
You incongruous old woman of Smyrna!'
So, get that pen moving on your two limericks about a face-off between the 'plotter' and the 'plotted against' (and, yeah, it can certainly be at least one-half autobiographical!). Remember, your goal is make us laugh, make us gasp, and most of all: make us vote for yours!
This writing prompt contest has ended. But there are over 50 other contests that you can enter. Click here to view our listing. Please click here to view the results of this contest.