
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.