.

Limerick

Perhaps it’s a marketing trick,
or else Iceland’s taking the mick;
__for what kind of fun
__is an Easter Day bun
when the cross has been swapped for a tick?

.

taking the mick: making fun
tick: check mark

.

.

Paul A. Freeman is the author of Rumours of Ophir, a crime novel which was taught in Zimbabwean high schools and has been translated into German. In addition to having two novels, a children’s book and an 18,000-word narrative poem (Robin Hood and Friar Tuck: Zombie Killers!) commercially published, Paul is the author of hundreds of published short stories, poems and articles.

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15 Responses

  1. C.B. Anderson

    Paul (or Warren), how have we come to this pass?

    You’re telling me that Easter
    Might be either feast or
    Famine, Sir, but
    Is there yeast in the sherbet?

    Reply
  2. Roy Eugene Peterson

    I had to research this one. Here is what I found:
    Premier Christian News, March 22, 2024, by Will Hobbs
    “Iceland Defends Replacing Cross with Tick on Hot Cross Buns”

    Supermarket Iceland stated that a tick mark is for the 20% from a marketing survey that preferred the tick mark but that hot cross buns will remain available for all customers. Hot cross buns are usually consumed on Good Friday.
    https://premierchristian.news/en/news/article/iceland-defends-replacing-cross-with-tick-on-hot-cross-bun

    Reply
    • Paul A. Freeman

      Some of the tabloids did start blowing the story out of proportion, but I suppose they see it as their job.

      I guess, suitably chastened, Iceland will go tickless next year.

      Reply
  4. Cheryl Corey

    Leave the hot cross bun alone! I had a warmed one for bkfst. Yummy.

    Reply
    • Paul A. Freeman

      I can’t remember the last time I had a hot cross bun, Cheryl. I do recall how filling they are, so perhaps it’s a good thing they’re only available at one time of the year – like Christmas cake.

      Reply
  5. Margaret Coats

    Paul, you are quite right to say that hot cross buns are meant for Easter Day, though Roy Peterson is also correct to say that persons having lost the sense of penance on Good Friday will make a point of eating these yummy goodies on the most mournful day of the year with the excuse that they carry the sign of the Cross. After all, one must eat, even on one of only two fast days still observed, and marketing is hot.

    Just take a look at those buns (cross or tick) and you will see they are RISEN. Christian ancestors kept Lent with flatbreads or unleavened pretzels. In those days, pretzels were Lenten food that disappeared at Easter, when bakers and everyone else could return to sweetly decorated risen breads and cakes because Jesus had risen. As for the cross, it was thought yeast breads would not rise properly unless the cross were cut or pricked on top (no cross, no resurrection). Remember taking a fork to pre-packaged biscuits from the refrigerator case?

    Reply
    • Paul A. Freeman

      If only morning assembly at school had been as interesting as your post, Margaret. Instead, we quaked in fear in case the deputy headmaster saw someone talking, launched one of those heavy wooden blackboard erasers at the culprit, missed, and hit someone in the vicinity – which is what usually happened.

      Reply
  6. James A. Tweedie

    In Iceland, Hot Buns are (by crickey)
    Inspired by humanist psyche.
    For popular taste
    Demands buns are laced
    Not with crosses, but logos from Nike.

    Reply
    • Paul A. Freeman

      Oooh, very clever.

      As a child, the significance of hot cross buns eluded me. The decoration always reminded me of the + sign, and I wasn’t too keen on (or good at) Math(s).

      Reply
  7. Mia

    Thank you Mr Freeman
    Amazing what a short limerick can do!
    Inspirational, as it got me thinking about inclusivity.
    Take Easter eggs for example, such deliciousness should definitely
    Be shared.

    Brown or white or even striped, Ramadan eggs,
    All taste deliciously creamy in bed
    Just before dawn you’ll be asking for more
    So hide them, where no-one will find them
    And if you decide to save them for Eid
    They make a great treat, share them and feast.

    Or

    Ramadan eggs
    To break your fast
    Keep you full from dawn to dusk.

    Reply
    • Paul Freeman

      A Cadbury’s Creme Egg would definitely do the trick, especially the old ones that were twice the size.

      Reply
      • Mia

        just as well, too much of those is definitely not good, better in moderation.

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