Bonne Cusine Poem by gershon hepner

La bonne cuisine, so Frenchmen say,
is not how Frenchmen mangent
to keep la faim, le soif, away.
They resemble anges,
and eat because food tastes so good,
not gourmands but gourmets,
while drinking with their angel food
not only Chardonnays,
but Bordeaux, champagne, Burgundy,
in cuisine cordoned blue,
or sometimes, with uncertainty,
health conscious, cuisine new.
Why angels should need la nouvelle
is easy to comprendre,
for angels hate to show and tell
avoirdupoids and ventre.
Yet life is bitter without butter,
and angels who are French,
are willing to take risks quite utter,
just like a mortal mensh.
La bonne cuisine with little change will
keep Frenchmen hale and hearty,
until, just like an immortal angel
they join another party,
not center, left or right but tasty,
to follow their hors d’oeuvres
with soup and entrée and a pastry
the gods to angels serve.


Inspired by four Leonard Bernstein songs called La Bonne Cuisine.


5/26/97