Funny Friday: Humorous Poems

[Author’s Note: This is my most popular blog post.]

When you think of humorous poetry, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Did you say limericks? More than likely you did.

Think a little harder. There are many poets that have written poems that:

are laugh out loud funny (rare)
make you giggle (not as rare)
produce a smile (getting closer)
end with a pursed lip/head shake/eyeroll (BINGO)

Many poets, like Silverstein or Dahl have written poems that both children and adults find funny, but mostly kids because they are more easily made to laugh. To reach the adult population, silly usually moves toward satirical.

Here are a few of my own:

Youth vs. Age

When we are young
We are invincible
Or we think we are
It’s just mind over matter
When we are older
We know better
Or think we do
We can still do many things
But now it’s just
Mind over bladder

The Sock

Is there anything lonelier than discarded clothing?
A sign of disappointment, of rejection, of loathing
Threadbare and stained, no fight left within
Wondering what events caused this great sin
Did you wear out your welcome, what did you do?
Was it a weakness of cotton that allowed the big toe to come through?
Was it your owner’s odd gait that wore through the heel?
Taking the blame, how did that feel?
Was your partner discarded or saved for another
Pair that shares the same fate and just the right color?

The Middle Child

They say the middle child is often neglected
Favored for the first or the last is to be expected
It is a fact that it happens, to important to ignore
Plays out over and over, oh so many times before
But I’d give it all to be what I am instead
As I see the hand reach over me to get the middle slice of bread

From my short story collection, A post-apocalyptic poem:

I bet you didn’t know there was post-apocalyptic poetry.
And finally, what everyone thinks:

When writing Haiku
When do you get to the point
Of not counting fing—(@#%*!)

Not all my poetry is humorous, but much of what I write has a satirical edge to it. Check out my poetry page for more or visit my Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Leon-Stevens/author/B083QLSJ6C

The Poetry Page

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-Leon

Leon Stevens is a multi-genre author, composer, guitarist, songwriter, and an artist, with a Bachelor of Music and Education. He published his first book of poetry, Lines by Leon: Poems, Prose, and Pictures in January 2020, followed by a book of original classical guitar compositions, Journeys, and a short story collection of science fiction/post-apocalyptic tales called The Knot at the End of the Rope and Other Short Stories. His newest publications are the novella trilogy, The View from Here, which is a continuation of one of his short stories, and a new collection of poetry titled, A Wonder of Words.

My new book page: http://books.linesbyleon.com/