March/April 2021 Limerick Laughs Winner and Runners-up

Subway riders were doing their thing
Holding on to the straphanger ring,
So engrossed with their lives
To and from nine-to-fives
Only one person noticed it’s spring!

Congratulations to Ronald Levinsky of South Salem, New York, who won $25 for his colorful limerick describing this George Hughes cover illustration from our March 28, 1953, issue.

If you’d like to enter the Limerick Laughs Contest for our upcoming issue, submit your limerick via our online entry form.

Here are some of our other favorite limericks from this contest, in no particular order:

So timid was little Miss Marty,
Dressed up, on her way to a party.
Instead of a cake
(She never could bake),
She took flowers and looked quite a smarty.
—Sylvia West Fairbanks, Bethesda, Maryland

No Fortnite or Pokémon GO
For the girl with the colors that glow.
As men read for hours,
She’s happy with flowers:
A Fifties pre-cellphone tableau.
—Christopher Crommett, Los Angeles, California

This pot has a leak, I’ll bet,
Because my lap is wet.
The plant looked dry
And that is why
I watered it, to my regret.
—Ruby Postada, Marion, Illinois

There once was a girl named Louise
Who balanced a plant on her knees.
It was flowers from Holland
With minimal pollen,
Which made her less likely to sneeze.
—Wendy Hyrkas, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Must the grind of the morning commute
Be endured in a gray flannel suit?
It’s an argument that
This young lady, her hat,
Her dress, and her flowers refute.
—Jeff Foster, San Francisco, California

The suits heading home from their towers
Are the black-and-white world of rush hours.
But among these tall trees
Wafts a colorful breeze:
A young girl alone with her flowers.
—Jeff Covel, Arlington, Virginia

Today’s ride on a train, what a treat!
She had even found one empty seat.
Though she was ignored
By commuters on board,
She was happy just resting her feet.
—Joan Cummings, Black Mountain, North Carolina

On the train I found just the right spot
For me and my flowers and pot.
I figured that color
Made monotony duller.
Did this have an effect? I think not.
—Deborah McCarthy, South Pasadena, Florida

From the moment she came into sight,
All the world ’round her turned black and white.
Nothing else could compare
To a beauty so rare
That the colors themselves hugged her tight.
—Ken Morgan, Chapel Hill, North Carolina