Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
L.A. Metro And SF BART Are Dueling In Weed Poetry On Twitter Because California
It's a summer Friday, so you know what that means: antsy office workers, loosened ties, potential conference room beers—and semi-NSFW Twitter poetry battles between two major transit agencies.
Yes, it's been a little more than a year since the great Metro/BART Haiku Battle of June 2016, and the two agencies' social media teams appear to be at it again. But this time they've thrown the 5-7-5 haiku form by the wayside, and are instead opting for limericks... about weed.
Largely popularized through the Mother Goose nursery rhymes, the limerick is a verse form composed of five lines that adhere to a strict rhyme scheme ( aabba, for anyone who was wondering). The limerick, according to the American Academy of Poets, "is often comical, nonsensical, and sometimes even lewd."
Today's comical, nonsensical, and sometimes even lewd poetry face-off began just before 12:30 p.m., when the wild San Franciscans at BART decided to remind their readers not to get stoned in the transit zone, via popular microblogging platform Twitter. And, for reasons that at first seemed inexplicable, BART felt the need to drag the good people at Metro Los Angeles into it:
To keep things from going amiss
— BART (@SFBART) August 4, 2017
On BART please don't smoke cannabis
It stinks up the train
Maybe you can explain
This best @metrolosangeles
We find both the limerick and the fact that BART is still operating, despite its citizenry's mass exodus to the Tech Bus Dark Side, very cute! But what the heck does this have to do with us in L.A.?
Well, as the renowned literary scholars at The Paris Review Mashable pointed out, @MetroLosAngeles does rhyme with cannabis. Color us legitimately impressed.
More than an hour later (was everyone at an all-staff lunch? An hour is like six months in internet time!) Metro saw fit to reply with a limerick of their own. The home of City Lights Bookstore was unimpressed:
Hmm. 3/10.
— BART (@SFBART) August 4, 2017
Metro took the criticism in stride, and stepped up their game:
Much better. 10/10
— BART (@SFBART) August 4, 2017
Soon, the L.A. Times' transit reporter Laura Nelson was ON IT. But, in a true understanding of the fourth estate's role as a watchdog over the agencies they cover, Nelson also felt the need to point out that Metro's anapests (the metrical feet wherein certain syllables should be stressed) weren't quite up to snuff:
A summer Friday in California: The transit agencies for Los Angeles and San Francisco are having a limerick battle about weed. pic.twitter.com/yozrPCRqdj
— Laura J. Nelson 🦅 (@laura_nelson) August 4, 2017
.@metrolosangeles's anapaests need a bit of work.
— Laura J. Nelson 🦅 (@laura_nelson) August 4, 2017
Other less relevant cities also tried to get involved, but honestly no one cared...
Packed ferry with hours on 80
— VisitVallejo (@VisitVallejo) August 4, 2017
Parking fees & high tolls a plenty
So I hop on a bus
Cause #SolTrans helps us
Bond us to #Bart as a new bestie pic.twitter.com/zHbEKLITZJ
Seattle is smoldering, record heat, BC smoke,
— King County Metro 🚏 🚌🚎⛴🚐 (@kcmetrobus) August 4, 2017
But there's no Route 420 upon which you can toke@SFBART @metrolosangeles
Seriously, bless Metro and BART for their reaction GIFs to Seattle's continued nonsense:
— LA Metro (@metrolosangeles) August 4, 2017
— BART (@SFBART) August 4, 2017
And oh dear God, Canada. O, Canada:
Sorry Jocelyn, this rep is terrible with poetry. Have a nice day. :) ^DM
— TTC Customer Service (@TTChelps) August 4, 2017
Toronto Transit with the most Canadian response of all time. https://t.co/GRoyN8D873
— BART (@SFBART) August 4, 2017
In conclusion, we hope your weekend is even a fraction as good as this final one-two punch from BART:
It's a person who was arrested right after the photo was taken.
— BART (@SFBART) August 4, 2017
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.

-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?