HERE ARE SOME OF THE PEOPLE WHO LEFT US THIS YEAR, REMEMBERED IN LIMERICK FORM:
Nelson Mandela (July 1918-December 2013)
So RIP Nelson Mandela
A quite incomparable fella
Though back in the day
They locked him away
Today his approval rate’s stellar.*
+++
Margaret Thatcher (October 1925 – April 2013)
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
A leader of eminent stature
Whose rule was decisive
But also divisive
Could not overrule the dispatcher.
+++
Hugo Chavez (July 1954-March 2013)
There was an old man of Caracas
Who polarised friends & attackers
Though many were anti
The old Comandante
A lot of the poor were his backers.
+++
David Frost (April 1939 – August 2013)
There was an old fellow named Frost
A TV man now sadly lost.
Although he was gracious
He could be tenacious,
As Nixon found out to his cost.
+++
Chinua Achebe (November 1930-March 2013)
Farewell to a man from Nigeria
Whose writing was pretty superior
Things Fall Apart
Showed Africa’s heart
Without all the darkness hysteria.
+++
Seamus Heaney (April 1939-August 2013)
Farewell to a poet named Seamus
Whose body of work made him famous
Reciter, exciter
And prizewinning writer
His poems inspire & inflame us.
+++
Iain Banks (February 1954 – June 2013)
A very fine writer from Fife
Has sadly departed this life.
So let us give thanks
For old Iain Banks,
Our thoughts with his newly-wed wife.
+++
John Graham (February 1921-November 2013)
There was an old crossword compiler,
A word-weaving cryptic freestyler.
Farewell Araucaria
Infinite varier,
Witty, bewitching beguiler.
+++
Lou Reed (March 1942 – October 2013)
So RIP music man Lou
Your walk on the wild side is thru
Your satellite’s gone
Your Perfect Day done
But we’re glad we spent it with you.
+++
Reg Presley (June 1941-February 2013)
RIP Reg from the Troggs
Who sad to report, popped his clogs
Mortality found him
With love all around him
With Brenda his wife & their sprogs.
+++
Ray Manzarek (February 1939-May 2013)
There was an old fellow named Ray,
A Doors man who knew how to play.
Come on Light My Fire,
A tune to admire,
Years on is still burning away.
+++
Junior Murvin (1946-December 2013)
So farewell Junior Murvin
Whose legacy’s well worth preservin’
He sang of the ghetto
In piercing falsetto
Compelling & oddly unnervin’.
+++
Ronnie Biggs (August 1929-December 2013)
Old Ronnie Biggs helped rob a train;
Imprisoned, he got out again.
He then did a bunk
And sang as a punk
While Slipper pursued him in vain.
+++++
*The Mandela limerick first appeared in There Was an Old geezer Called Caesar: A History of the World in 100 Limericks.
http://www.anovabooks.com/there-was-an-old-geezer-called-caesar
twitmericks 