~la Frommage Lazare Poem by Mike Finley

La frommage lazare
(The Lazarus cheese)

“We milk the sheep
And stir the milk
And when it hardens
Place it in the cave.

“The fungi are drawn
To dark moisture, and swarm
over the great white wheels, and cover
Them with a leathery skin.

“But the cheese is so warm
It radiates its sunshine
Deep in the darkness
And the fungi seep into the light.

“Then the spiders descend
And they are hungry for the fruit.
They lay their eggs around the wheel
Like a drapery to protect it.

“After five years we remember
There is cheese down there
Deep within the cave
And we fetch it wrapped in cloth.

“It is like a monster made of monsters
And we cut it open and it breathes
From the depths it gasps
And exudes its bouquet.”

“But it is so sweet, ” I say,
So delicious! ”
“Yes, but for five black years
It was death! ”