On First Tasting Colston Bassett Stilton
(with apologies to Keats)
Much have I travell’d in the realms of mold,
And sampled Gorgonzola crystalline;
And many rounds of Roquefort I’ve picked clean
Which Frenchmen faithful to their grottoes hold.
One cheese of great expense I had been told
Was deep-cow’d Stilton, Midlands his demesne;
Yet never did I breathe his fumes serene
Till I had nibbled Bassett, barnlike, bold:
Then felt I like a farmer in cow pies
When humid hay and cream stick to his hand;
Or like a stout cortège that, eager, tries
All cheeses (none specific) then demand
Their monger give a none-too-mild surprise—
And find that blue the peak of dairyland.
Elijah Perseus Blumov is a poet, critic, host of the Versecraft podcast and substack, and Translations Editor at Literary Matters. His work has been published or is forthcoming in venues such as Birmingham Poetry Review, Image, Rust and Moth, Tar River Poetry, and others. His first chapbook, The Necklace of Harmonia, is forthcoming from Lettre Sauvage, and his first book, Against Oblivion, is forthcoming from Measure Press. You can read more of his writing at elijahperseusblumov.com.