EIF Poetry Challenge #5: The Results!

This week’s Poetry Challenge was to compose a limerick, with the aim of bringing a smile to the face of the reader, and distracting us all a little from the troubled times in which we find ourselves.

I asked Poet Don of The Flippant, Comic, and Serious if he would be our judge, with the result that we had some interesting email conversations which (mostly) took the form of limericks. I began to wonder if this could be a health condition, in which the sufferer is only capable of thinking/writing/talking in limerick form:

As I emailed with Don from Down Under
I soon found myself starting to wonder
If I’d (given good time)
Cease this speaking in rhyme
‘Fore my days as a poet be numbered!

There is definitely something addictive about writing limericks. I hope that those of you who took part had as much fun as we did reading them. I received entries via WordPress and Instagram, and I handed over to Don for the judging, so without further ado, here are the results…

First Place: Lou Faber

Here is the winning limerick from Lou Faber of ‘An Old Writer and his Words:’

Ingrid’s game I decided to play,
So I sat at my desk straight away,
As I struggled to write
The paper stayed white
And the pen said No Way, not today.

It looks like the pen was wrong in this case: congratulations on your winning entry, Lou! Judge Don had this to say:

‘There were three [entries] which scanned nicely and were ‘music to my ears’ so to speak.  So this augured well for choosing three place-getters.  The winning entry showed cleverness and my sort of thinking, making my choice easier.’

Lou is a great poet and a supportive member of the WordPress community. I recommend visiting his website if you are not familiar with his work. I would also like to offer Lou the opportunity to judge the next EIF Poetry Challenge, should he wish to do so.

Second Place: Valdis Stakle

Valdis entered his limerick via Instagram:

There once was a fellow named Fred
Who woke up and thought he was dead!
But he heard his alarm
could raise his right arm
So he prayed then had breakfast in bed!

Valdis is an expressionist artist who devotes most of his time to painting. You can see examples of his work on his Instagram Page. He occasionally makes forays into the literary world: check out his guest post Adrian the Unloved for a truly surreal flash fiction, also illustrated by Valdis.

Third Place: Gunta Binks

Gunta also entered via Instagram:

There once was a girl called Binky
Whose friend said her feet were stinky
So she scrubbed them with soap
but she felt such a dope
as all came up clean but her pinky!

Gunta has a keen interest in literature, art and crafts, and has a natural talent for comedy! You can see some delightful images from her native Cumbria and beyond on her Instagram Page

And finally…

A massive thank you to everyone who took part. This competition was a lot of fun, and brought a much-needed smile to my face. Thanks again to Poet Don and his mate Skip (see Featured Image) for judging. If you are looking for more poems to raise a smile (with moments of pathos and seriousness woven in) do pay a visit to The Flippant, Comic, and Serious.

I hope you will join me for the next EIF Poetry Challenge (follow the tag to be sure you don’t miss out!)
Ingrid