Eye - 21 & 28 December 2012

Limericks and gimmicks

There once was a Friend who liked limericks,
Inspired by linguistic mavericks,
So he contacted Eye
To inspire a wry
Look at Quakerly topics.

Thankfully Roy Payne, from Shropshire, has a defter touch than Eye and inspired a frenzy of rhythmic rhyming in the Friend office with his rib-tickling verses. He says that it all started with Westminster…

An amorous Friend from Westminster
Proposed to a Lutheran spinster.
In declining his offer
She quoted Bonhoeffer,
But he quoted Fox – and convinced her!

Then, he looked around and found:

A middle-aged Friend at Friends House
Had a sad inclination to grouse.
A brash young attender
Could not help but offend her,
So she moved to Bunhill with her spouse.

A garrulous Friend at Petts Wood
Spoke in Meeting far more than he should.
Said an elder ‘Good Gracious!
You’re far too loquacious;
Some silence would do us more good.’

A very pi Quaker at Ealing
Developed the habit of kneeling,
Causing other Friends there,
With a somewhat pained air
To stare very hard at the ceiling.

Roy reflects, ‘Of course, the limerick maker enjoys the challenge of finding a word for the end of the first line which, at first sight, appears to be impossible to be rhymed with twice, like, say Aberystwyth. Now, there is already a scurrilous Aberystwyth limerick which, if any Friend knows, he should be ashamed of himself! So, why should the devil have all the good rhymes?’

A sober young Friend from Aberystwyth
Became very hard to exist with.
When Friends said, ‘Please let go
and relax.’ He said, ‘No!
My concerns I am bound to persist with.’

During your post-mince-pie-recline see what Friendly rhymes the festive season inspires in you!

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