One of the jokes my Dad kept in his inventory and now my brother has made it one of his standard go-to jokes.  The version my Dad told is different than my google search on “timbuktu limerick”.  Shown below is the way my Dad told it, I remember the poets names could and did change:

The two great poets, Alfred Lord Tennyson and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow have passed away and are at the Golden Gate.  St. Peter greets them enthusiastically: how wonderful to meet you two.  Unfortunately, we are nearly full of poets at this time.  I can only accept one of you at this time.   I will give each of you the same word and you must come up with a verse using this word.

“The word is: Timbuktu”, said St. Peter.

Tennyson went first:
” Across the hot Sahara sand,
Trekked the dusty caravan.
Men on camels, two by two,
Destination- Timbuktu.

St. Peter replied, “that is very good. Henry, it’s your turn.”

Longfellow cleared his throat and began:
” Tim and I, a-hunting went,
We met three girls in a pop-up-tent,
They were three and we were two,
So, I bucked one and Tim Buck Two!