I set a bored writer friend a challenge today. Write a poem briefly explaining the origin of Pancake Day without using the words pancake, Tuesday and flip….and this is what she came up with:
In the days of yore, on the day before Wednesday
The people were as happy as the birds in the skies
Why? One must wonder are they happy and not sad
Don’t they realise there’s hardship just ahead?
No chocolate, no truffles, no pigs feet, no corn
No bacon, no waffles, no pheasant, no flan
The Saviour went without for 5 weeks and 5 days
This they called Lent and they must follow in his ways
So they emptied out the larders, freezers and all they had stored
Blended them all together and I can’t think what they got!
But thankfully some kind soul who thought it tasted naff
Separated the good stuff and threw aside the chaff
So they made some funny shapes with eggs & flour as batter
Smothered them in honey or syrup or butter
Shaped them in folds or rolled them in a ring
And everyone who ate them would giggle and sing
Then the next day was upon them with fierce starvation
And so the day became famous across all the nation.
As I quickly distributed the fantastic poem to friends and family, my cousin came back with her very own poem:
Don’t eat those round things,
They will give you a heart attack on Wednesday.