Duke Beaufort Poet Limerick

Past Transgressions Reversed

In peace she consumes curds and whey
Miss Muffet on tuffet will stay
The spider retreats
While she giggles and eats
Now armed with a can of bug spray


Author's note: Apologies to mother goose. I never liked the original. I thought it was a destroyer of childhood innocence. 

Why can't we enjoy what we do without being bothered? I don't dislike spiders, and I hope the original author of the nursery rhyme was just trying to point out how silly distractions occur when we are afraid. 

On the other hand, an allegorical view makes the spider out to be something sinister--like a member of the Trump family, one of the members of Congress purveying the big lie, or Russian propaganda trying to divide us. They can all be dealt with if we just come to our senses.

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Mark Hughes February 7, 2024 at 10:25 AM Very well done Duke! One can only hope, good sense will prevail! Duke Beaufort February 7, 2024 at 1:16 PM I am certain we have both seen many examples of bad governance. We hope that the sides (both of which have responsibility) will come together for our common good. It's tough when the bills get written by lobbyists or if they have undue influence. We see so few with courage to stand up for what is right--even if it means they sacrifice their own career. We can talk about it as it is interesting.

Jennifer Proxenos August 10, 2021 at 10:50 AM So true and so clever that you picked this nursery rhyme to talk of politicians and the media because I feel most fall under the same umbrella or tuffet. I heard a Greek man on the news last night, saying that governments and politicians have become useless - the public and foreign help were mostly responsible for fighting fires! Perhaps, we the people, can still rally.Well penned Duke Glad to see you back in full force! Blessings/hugs Jennifer. Hugs and blessings, Jennifer. Duke Beaufort August 13, 2021 at 7:03 AM Jennifer, TY!! We are influenced by all sorts of things, and it takes some honest exploration to determine the causes of things. The root causes are sometimes difficult to fathom, but they are there.

Kathy Bahr August 8, 2021 at 4:03 PM came by to say thank you for sharing. Duke Beaufort August 9, 2021 at 12:48 PM Ahhhh, sharing!! I have to check out your poetry!!

Debbie Duncan August 8, 2021 at 12:49 PM This limerick was funny. Well hello there, how are you. I came on because I had posted one of my poems: Won't You Be A Doll" on another site called Rosel's Temple Of Awakening poetry page. I do not appreciate spiders near me. As Andrea says below " don't forget Biden". Anyways I hope you are well Duke Beaufort August 9, 2021 at 12:47 PM I’m not bad. Have a few health issues, but nothing too scary or final. The spiritual site you mentioned probably suits you well. Not having you here is a loss since you have some a unique style and ideas that provided much enjoyment to me. They say Biden is tough to make fun of. At least he has empathy and been through things that helps him understand people. He has a lot of people hoping he will fail.

Andrea Dietrich August 8, 2021 at 11:49 AM Don't forget to mention Biden too. he is just as bad as all the other politicians. Duke, thanks for what you wrote on your comment to me. And about this limerick, I LOVE it!! Duke Beaufort August 9, 2021 at 12:33 PM I would like to know why you think that. I agree they are all strange, but compared to the bully? Duke Beaufort August 9, 2021 at 8:48 AM You are very kind as always!!