Ode to Cheese

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Ode to Cheese
by a Humble Devotee of the Divine Dairy

O golden gift of grass and beast,
Thou art the jewel of every feast!
From cave-aged wheels to creamy brie,
No mortal joy compares to thee.

Thy perfume, pungent, rich, and bold,
In cellars deep or wrapped in gold,
Tempts tongue and soul with siren call—
A taste, and I am lost in thrall.

O cheddar sharp, with edge like wit,
In thee, a farmer's pride is lit.
And gouda, smooth as sunset skies,
With caramel dreams behind thine eyes.

Camembert, in velvet white,
Thy luscious heart a lover’s bite.
And blue, with veins of mystery,
Art chaos bound in symmetry.

Mozzarella, soft and shy,
A snow-white moon in summer's sky.
O string of joy! O molten crown!
When baked upon a crust so brown.

From Alpine slopes to Tuscan fields,
The milk of kine thy bounty yields.
Transformed by time, by hand, by flame—
Each rind and curl a work of fame.

What poet’s pen, what sculptor’s hand
Could match thy forms, so subtly planned?
What godly nectar flows with ease
Like wine that mates so well with cheese?

O cheese! Thou art the pause, the peace,
The bite that grants the soul release.
Beholden am I, heart and gut,
To every wedge and every cut.

So bless the cow, the goat, the sheep,
And all who churn, and mold, and keep
This sacred craft, this alchemy—
This miracle called fromage, this glee.

Forever may thy wheels roll round,
In every land, o’er every ground.
For when the stars grow cold and cease—
We’ll still be praising thee, O cheese.