Limericks / An Obama Limerick (March 22, 2009)

Thank you for the review.

This was one of several we have printed (a few thousand) and handed out at tea parties – neutral enough to be given away to virtually anyone.

Did you read the review below yours in the list?

I did and I smiled. Obviously this person has an issue with his own sexuality and interprets anything and everything they see as an affront. There will always be those, who just don’t get it. :-)

Thank you for reading it. It is INTENDED to be offensive – in this case, not to Mr. Obama himself, but to a member of his entourage, as well as to his followers. In case you haven’t noticed, this is a political satire.

As far as “homophobic” goes – where did you get this one? Nobody else – and this was read by hundreds of people by now – had noticed anything about “homophobic”. I mean, it does mention someone’s ass, and it is indeed an ass of a male person, but that by itself would not qualify the intent one way or another, would it?

Inexplicably, your comment was displayed by Urbis along the side of another one of my limericks:

There once was a dummy named Gibbs,
whose performance was tied to his lips.
But his brain was attached
to his a#@, and they matched,
thus creating a total eclipse.

and this is why I commented mentioning someone’s ass.

However, the rest of my comment still stands – where do you see the “homophobic” aspect of it? “Cover your ass” is a common colloquial expression which was simply reworded here.

Thank you for reading it.

The reference to Shakespeare is direct for some people, and obscure for some – some people miss it entirely, some see it, and wonder why, and some, indeed, get the most important part of it – the repetition in Anthony’s speech, where he says “but Brutus is an honourable man”.

The parallel of this in reference to Mr. Obama creates what is commonly know as allusion – and allusions are always made without a specific credit, because they imply an obvious understanding (nobody in their right mind would ascribe this line to me, if they have gotten any education at all… and if they have not been educated – this is not my problem, then they simply do not belong to my audience);allusions, in a way, serve as a “filter”, separating those readers who know, from those who do not (it is ok to filter your readership – any poetry is not for everybody, and you have a right to choose your own audience).

Formal beat count that you did, is of course, correct – but limericks, just like any other poetry, would become very monotonous and rigid, if the rhythm is not varied, especially if you try to write 250+ of them, and present them together in one spot (www.obamafu.com).

A reader has to be kept interested.

And therefore, it is, formally, permissible to vary the meter, shortening and lengthening lines at least by half-measure (whatever this means in anapest).

If you read it aloud, you will see that while lines have been shortened and legnthened seeimingly “at will”, they sound fairly cohesive (of course, regional differences in pronounciation notwithstanding…).

I hope the topic will not last longer than 2010, or 2012 at its worst.

Thank you for reading it – and if you liked it, look at www.obamafu.com – there are now 250+ of them that I posted already, and new ones are coming almost daily.

not..

Thank you.

Being frank is something our – and any – society could use more of. As Edward R. Murrow said, “Most truths are so naked that people feel sorry for them and cover them up, at least a little bit.”

Ellipsis (to which you referred as “many periods”) is used to imply an omitted thought or an omitted phrase, which is required here – the reader has to think past the last line of the limerick.

Iambic pentameter (always used in limericks for 1st, 2nd and 5th line) allows – as any pentameter – to extend or to shorten the line by half-measure. If the first line is shortened further (by replacing countrymen for foes), it will create a gap… and also change the meaning – in this limericks, foes are not the ones the author spoke to.
There is also an allusion to Anthony’s speech (from Shakespeare) which you must have missed – please look at other comments, it is mentioned and explained elsewhere in this thread.
“as is” – means without any changes.

Sorry… I copied this from another comment and perpetuated a mistake… not iambic pentameter, but rather anapestic trimeter. However, the comment about extending or shortening the last step still stands as is.

Fair enough that’s your call.

Thank you. There are 200+ more limericks at our site – www.obamafu.com (and cartoons, and photographs – all original… only videos are from YouTube)

How is Tulsa holding up? Last recession I remember there was 25%+ unemployment, back in early 80s… soup kitchens… stuff like that…