Duelling Stanzas
Two Irishmen met in a bar,
one said, "Hey friend, I know who you are.
You’re that lad from Galway,
who spins verses all day,
the limerick king Billy Starr!"
"That’s right, but I might wish to add,"
said Billy the limerick lad,
"that my rhymes are at times,
not unlike heinous crimes,
their outcomes horrifically bad."
“I’m Benny O’Denny from County Kilkenny,
and many a penny I’ve made,
reciting a verse that fattens my purse, limericks Bill are my trade!
Now Billy it’s quite nice to meet you,
I’ve heard how the populace treat you,
they call you the king of the limerick ring,
but Billy-boy: I’m here to defeat you!"
And with that the gauntlet was laid,
both men - back to back - it is said,
with serious faces,
advanced forth ten paces,
while Danny Boy quietly played.
Billy was first to spin round,
firing a limerick he’d found,
which bubbled with snark,
bulls-eyeing its mark,
with riotous laughter all round.
"There once was a man from Kilkenny,
whose lim’ricks were nay worth a penny,
a tedious poet, though he didn’t know it,
but everyone else did - now did-n-they?”
The patrons reacted with cheer,
some spewing back into their beer,
Billy’s first shot had indeed hit the spot,
that dueling Lim’rickers most fear.
O’Denny recoiled from the jibe,
his sentiment hard to describe,
he composed his riposte,
in the form of a toast,
a salute with a cynical vibe.
"Here’s to Limerick King Billy,
whose lines redefine what is silly,
I’ll pay him a penny,
to perform in Kilkenny,
the question remaining is - Will he?"
