The origins of MIMITs

If you haven't the least idea what a MIMIT is, nor did I a year or two ago! It all began one day, struggling to find my way through a particular short story and getting thoroughly fed up. So in my exasperation I typed out this short verse:

I thought it might amuse my son, who's also a writer. He'd understand my level of exasperation! It made him smile. Then he gave me a challenge. ’Can you do ten more of these in the next two weeks?' Indeed I could. In fact, I think I did about twenty-five in the next ten days.

But what were they? They were such a mixture of subjects, thoughts, ideas and feelings. They all appeared, for a long while, spontaneously. I wasn't particularly racking my brains. One day, it's 'cats', another day, 'fear', another day 'politics' or 'farm animals' or 'patience' or 'trees' or the 'techie world'. The list goes on and on. However, there was one single, essential element every subject had in common.

Whether it was a statement, a question, a fact or a feeling about human or animal behaviour, it had to have a rhyme. Moreover, the rhymes didn't necessarily conform to any particular verse form. Nor did I feel I could discipline myself to say, 'Ah, each one must always follow a definitive rhyming scheme,' like a limerick or often an epigram. Although in most of the three hundred and sixty-five (yes!) so far the first two lines usually rhyme. But essentially, I'm freewheeling.

Clearly these odd verses needed a name. So I decided to invent one, and call them MIMITS. Voilà. That's the back story.

There is, of course a lot more to it. Not least, I must pay tribute to a brilliant Danish polymath, Piet Hahn. His GROOKS gave me the inspiration to continue a rhyming mix of themes that would spring spontaneously into my head. The first two lines came free and easy, whether they rhymed or not. The rest I had to work for!