Humor poems find amusement in familiar habits, mistaken assumptions, and situations that take an unexpected turn. A witty observation or an unlikely comparison can invite laughter while also revealing something true about the way people behave.
Browse the examples below and consider how the joke is built. Notice what the speaker takes seriously, what the reader can see, and where those perspectives diverge. Sound, timing, and an understated ending can make the humor work as effectively as an obvious punchline.
‘Michigoners’ who vote for El-Sayed
have completely lost their heads
A puppet of Piker and Soros
he’ll bring the country ‘af tsores’
_____________________________________________
'Michi-goners' is pronounced almost the
same as 'mishuginers,' which means
'crazies' in Yiddish
'af tsores' means 'only trouble,' 'in hot
water,' in Yiddish.
When we judge the past do we condemn the future to the past
Some fight to retain what they have, others to gain what they don’t
If there is only “one” God why can’t we agree on it?
My grandson learned to snap his fingers, he’ll be running for office soon.
If all the dominos would just stay put all would be well.
Insider trading…”I’ll give you three cigarettes for the candy bar”.
Extravirolioli lols at zalad,
Tossified in tinypheres of cheezylutres;
Courtn'd with padte 'o avoclan'd,
Drizz'd with sauceaven o' culture!
Such is the state of vegemind,
O' RachelRay'd EVOO grind.
—By Scott the Hamm
The heat has gone the sun slowed down
And its rays went out of town,
It just left us in the cold
In our shivers growing mould,
Need replacement for the heat
Back again that feeling sweet,
To feel the heat right on the cheek
So much good for the physique,
A replacement I must find
One that’s sweet a one that’s kind,
Perhaps an image does the trick
And watch your wares with every click,
That would surely warm my heart
As it was right from the start,
Cause when I first laid eyes on you
Felt all the veins burning right through.
Applying to Harvard, Delphi Sa'id
To this question, didn't know how to plead
What's a 'panty raid,' they asked
Delphi, an answer he lacked
He stumbled, bumbled, said ~ "Sure. I smoke weed"
Education, I say, is
Two Swiss-cheese gloves
Slide one over the other
Are all the holes covered?
I really only know
the surface of seasons:
the green and bloom,
colorful brittle,
and blanket death --
While science
informs me, of
soil fitness, to nourish
beneath and trim above --
I am yet not
entirely convinced
as to the longevity
of love? Should I believe
more the prophets and
priests or the lawyers and
judges? She was no help.
If my lips could sip on yours
With tender little nibbles
Oh how full my heart would be
With a soft-serve cone.
Music clears the cluttered mind,
Soothes the soul to dance in time.
The rhythm runs to something good,
Forward, back, till understood.
Up on my feet, I make a move,
Left foot over right follows suit.
Hips sway like melody is on its way,
A dance of my own design on display.
Not quite Broadway, our dance hall proved,
My buddies walk up, traumatized by the moves!
Laughing and poking, I turn in surprise,
And see all the humor light up in their eyes.
"Ah hell no, man!" they shout from behind,
"Moves like that are just burned into our minds!
We are only mortal men, not gods of swing,
But damn, you are no good at this thing!"
I smile and I blush, but I feel like I should,
Just moving my feet in the way that I could.
Ribbing and laughing, man, what a day,
I got caught dancin' my shift away.
Camel toe and moose knuckle
Are found below the buckle
I don't want a ruckus or fracas
Caused by my language
But this is good for a chuckle
I’m not emotionally evasive.
Don’t admire me from a distance.
Let's not waste time pretending.
Skip the decorative speech of poetry.
What we’re about isn’t moonlight and flowers,
it’s that common-coin of light comedy—sex.
If intimacy is a sequence of permissions,
take what I have—I want you close.
Let’s abandon polite fiction,
get with the friction,
and form a pleasurable, pleasure dependence
.
.
A song for this:
Get Me by Everything But the Girl
Out very late,gardening in the dark.
When my head torch failed.
I completly lost the plot.
Prince Harry had a barber, name of Ross
Prince wouldn't pay what a good haircut cost
So Ross chopped off his head
Left Prince Harry for dead
Epitaph read: England's gain ~ Meghan's loss
Oh my, a cheaters dream
pastries unlimited
seating by reservation
only poets need apply
silent on humanity
but full of donut bits
for themselves
the bottom grows
the top, rots
they don't wear shoes
they wear
clik flops
AMERICAN NEED
MORE NASTY WOMEN, INDEED
CAITLIN CUP DOES READ
Humor Categories
Definition | What is Humor in Poetry?
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.
Related Poetry Forms
playfulness, farce, joke, banter, whimsy, gag, wit, fun, wisecrack, joking, gaiety, jest, amusement, drollery, jocosity, levity, lightness, happiness, comicality, jesting, raillery, flippancy, witticism, tomfoolery, jocularity