Penelope

Hi Inge,
Your "Penelope poem" comes across less as a strictly structured limerick and more as a playful, conversational sketch of the myth — almost like a spoken reaction to the story rather than a formal retelling in verse. That gives it a very immediate, personal tone.
What stands out is the way you move between registers. You start with a fairly traditional myth reference (“faithful Penelope”), but then shift into a much more modern, bodily expression with “younger muscles.” That’s a striking choice: in the Homeric context we would normally expect “suitors,” so this phrasing pulls the ancient story into a contemporary, slightly ironic vocabulary. It changes the feel of the scene quite noticeably, even though the underlying idea — Penelope surrounded by competing young men — is still recognizable.
The language overall is deliberately loose and expressive (“what me really puzzles,” the aside in parentheses, the rhetorical “HOW STRANGE…”). It reads less like a polished poetic structure and more like an improvised commentary that is allowed to break grammatical and stylistic consistency for effect. That can work well for voice and immediacy, but it also moves the piece away from the tighter expectations of a limerick form.
Seen from the perspective of the original myth, your version keeps the basic situation intact — Penelope’s fidelity and the presence of persistent young suitors — but translates it into a more modern, fragmented idiom rather than using the traditional epic language. That reinterpretation is quite distinctive and gives the piece its own character. I like it.

Cheerio,
Rolph