Tag Archives: history

Clerihew: JFK

Posted by silverthinker on

Kennedy, John Fitzgerald
A democracy herald
But historians adept
Know why England never slept

 

 

Third clerihew, and about a historical figure I recently wrote a similar (though longer!) light poem about.  JFK actually isn’t my favorite president, but he might be up there… I don’t know, I guess I just think there’s plenty of room for poetry about him, humorous or otherwise.  And yes, I did use this joke in the other poem (I wrote that one recently but this one eight months ago), but this one has a different reference!  That makes it okay, right? Right?

Clerihew: Jack Kerouac

Posted by silverthinker on

Jack Kerouac
Always wore a backpack
And to follow the beat
He’d hitchhike down the street

 

 

Here’s the next clerihew, and this one’s about my favorite author.  Jack Kerouac’s books aren’t for everyone, so I can’t say I recommend for anyone to read them.  Though I do maintain that everyone should at least read On The Road.  Anyway, I really dig his writing style and the mythos behind the Beat Generation.  If you have an interest in the era from one of the major figures of the Beat Generation or are interested in stream-of-consciousness writing, and you don’t mind if the book you’re reading doesn’t have a plot or arc, give Kerouac a shot.

Double Double Quadruple Dactyl: JFK

Posted by silverthinker on

Alright, before you read this double dactyl series about the life of John F. Kennedy, you might want to open that link to his wikipedia page that I just linked to.  I definitely had it open when I wrote it.

 

Porcelain Dorcelain
Young Mister Kennedy
Blew up a toilet seat
Mucker, indeed

Ultra-traditional
Elders rebuked him — he
Got the last laugh to most
Likely succeed

Addison Baddison
Junior-Grade Kennedy
Boat cut in half by the
Heavenly Mist

Teeth tugged a man, with grip
Monomaniacal
One more day marked off his
Calendar list

Mafia Scoffia
Senator Kennedy
Almost on ballot with
Stevenson (Two)

Thoughts toward McCarthy were
Non-confrontational;
Liberals dismissed him to
Find something new

Jickety Jackety
Johnson and Kennedy
Fighting a crook who kept
Acting irate

People thought Nixon looked
Uncomplimentary
Thus the TV really
Won the debate

Phantama Mantrana
President Kennedy
Asked what a person for
Country could do

Since he had taste for girls
Extracurricular
Ladies, he’s probably
Looking at you

Ominous Bombinous
Citizen Kennedy
Spoke at the Wall during
Communist rule

Cynics claim faux pas, but
Lexicographical
Research can prove them all
Jelly-filled fools

Jiggery Pokery
Khrushchev v. Kennedy
Led to invasions and
Crises, with pig

Faced with a future of
Anti-establishment,
Both took a fig leaf and
Got a new gig

Higgledy Piggledy
Old Mister Kennedy
Just forty-six on that
Warm Dallas day

Suddenly, bullets burst
Kleptomaniacal
Not a thing funny, no
More left to say.

 

I’m posting this today because it’s the anniversary of the Bay of Pigs Invasion (which I mentioned somewhere in there) and… hmmm…  well, I’m certain there’s another reason why I chose April 17 to put up one of my better long poems, but I just can’t put my finger on it….