You don’t need to be Pablo Neruda or Gwendolyn Brooks to write poetry. You can just be a regular goofball. Limericks are an excellent vehicle for goofballery, and they are my creative outlet of choice.
In April of 2018, I got word that my friend Lillian was moving to a new address just a few moments after the news broke that Carl Kasell (famous for the “Listener Limerick Challenge” on NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!) had passed away. So on a whim, I decided to write Lillian a limerick at her new address–and considering the dearth of words that rhyme with “Lillian,” I was pleased with the result:
There once was a woman named Lillian
Who lacked a fine bowl to eat chili in.
So instead, holy moley,
She filled a cannoli,
And called it a “Tex-Mex Sicilian!”
I took up writing limericks in my spare time. Being a strong believer in Random Acts of Weirdness, I decided to start sealing my limericks in envelopes and leaving them in public places with strict instructions that they only be opened by someone bearing the name on the envelope.
Side Quests
In gaming parlance, “side quests” are optional adventures that are not core to the central thrust of the game, but that add flavor and detail to the world and the characters that inhabit it.
The main purpose of this project is to add a little spontaneous joy and weirdness into the lives of people in my world. But… perhaps somebody will open their envelope and find more than a goofy poem. Perhaps somebody will find an invitation to complete a side quest, tugging them along to seek an outlet for their own goofballery.
John Appiah-Duffell 