PTH
Peptidyl tRNA hydrolase
Eliminates cellular toxic waste.
In the heat, cells will die
With a cough and a sigh,
By John’s lethal mutant erased.
Sea Turtle
There once was a sea turtle carapace
In the basement of Menninger’s ediface.
In the middle of winter,
The museum did whimper,
And the shell swam back fast to its starting place.
Frogometer
What a wonderful thing the frogometer,
Diabolical quasi-voltameter.
When a frog sees John enter,
The amphibious sprinter
Breaks records and hops a kilometer.
Rattleback
An amazing thing is the rattleback
Spins merrily left with a tiny smack —
But to physicists’ surprise
Natural laws seems like lies,
As it even turns left with a rightward whack!
Limericks in honor of Prof. John Menninger,
who finds them the highest expression of poetry,
on his 90th birthday.
Bluster & Absurdity 
Thanks, Eric, for the unexpected and clever limericks. Brother Richard
is feeling poorly, no crises but poorly, so we’re all together in my
place at the moment. Dinner with daughters et alia this evening —
leftovers — and hoping Richard continues to stabilize. Great to see
you and Laura, good fortune on the rest of your ambitious touring. —
best, John
these are so clever! -KW