twitmericks

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