I’m not sure how this happened but I managed to miss both Poem in your Pocket Day (April 18) and National Limerick Day (May 12) this year. So, in honor of both, I want to offer a couple of favorites.

Poem in Your Pocket Day

Had I remembered to print out a poem and carry it in my pocket on April 18, I would have undoubtedly chosen Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Figs from Thistles: First Fig. My husband introduced me to this poet when we were dating, and I have loved this particular poem ever since. 

Figs from Thistles: First Fig
By Edna St. Vincent Millay

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light!

I’ve sort of adopted this as a mantra for life, even though it’s probably not very good for my health. I love this poem because it says everything I feel about living life to the fullest, something Edna St. Vincent Millay most certainly did. 

While we’re in a poetry mood, here’s an offering from my favorite childhood poet, Spike Milligan. Although this poem is nonsense and ridiculous, it’s important to me because it taught me to love poetry, helped me learn to memorize my favorites, and reminded me into adulthood that art (or life, for that matter) doesn’t have to be serious all the time. 

On the Ning Nang Nong
Spike Milligan
 
On the Ning Nang Nong 
Where the cows go bong! 
and the monkeys all say BOO! 

There's a Nong Nang Ning 
Where the trees go ping! 
And the tea pots jibber jabber joo. 

On the Nong Ning Nang 
All the mice go clang 
And you just can't catch 'em when they do! 

So its Ning Nang Nong 
Cows go bong! 
Nong Nang Ning 
Trees go ping 
Nong Ning Nang 
The mice go clang 
What a noisy place to belong 
is the Ning Nang Ning Nang Nong!!

National Limerick Day

A number of years ago, my husband‘s mother gave us a huge book of limericks that she had found in a thrift store. Delighted, we opened the pages and picked a limerick at random to read to her. It turned out that limerick was quite a filthy one and not suitable to read to one’s mother-in-law. We looked for another, but quickly discovered that the entire book was full of the dirtiest limerick’s I’d ever heard (I’m not talking cheeky or a bit rude here; I’m talking filthy.) Anyway, my poor mother-in-law was mortified that she’d given us this book, which only added to the delight it brought us.

I won’t share a limerick from that book.