One can find creative writing in the oddest places. This morning, I am sharing with you samples of the limerick. I found these examples on www.zerohedge.com, a financial news website. The author is identified only as The Limerick King. To help the reader, the “whale” is JPMorgan and the “squid” is Goldman Sachs. The Captain refers to Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan.
As the world-wide economy slows
The risk inside banks no one knows
They fill us with lies
Then to our surprise
The Captain shouts out “Thar She Blows”
The Limerick King
A battle of squid versus whale
Which one of these giants will fail?
The loser is moot
It’s taxpayer loot
That’s taken to finance the bail
The Limerick King
The Limerick is a folksy style of poetry that has often been used for political or social commentary. Although the target of these two limericks is investment banks, the overall content is in keeping with the historic use of the form.
Wikipedia offers the following description about the form:
A limerick is a kind of a witty, humorous, or nonsense poem,[1] especially one in five-line anapestic or amphibrachic meter with a strict rhyme scheme (AABBA), which is sometimes obscene with humorous intent. The form can be found in England as of the early years of the 18th century.[2] It was popularized by Edward Lear in the 19th century,[3] although he did not use the term.
The following limerick is of unknown origin:
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The limerick packs laughs anatomical
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In space that is quite economical.
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But the good ones I’ve seen
So seldom are clean
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And the clean ones so seldom are comical.[
- P.S. The comments section of the original zerohedge.com post is eye-opening to ADULTS (as in Rated R) who have an interest in Wall Street fodder.
- http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/2012-07-12/squids-and-whales