West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers

High Cheese

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of wax
And bobbled up on cheddar-scented wing;
Spaceward I've climbed, avoiding crow attacks,
And did great deeds undreamt by Mr Bing*.
High in cerulean heavens I've hung;
Parlous high, borne up by my great balloon;
I've looped the loop and zoomed yet up, and swung
My crazy craft towards the distant moon.
Higher I grew, in skies of Stilton blue -
Empty whey above, clouds of cream below -
Where never quark, nor even Cheshire flew -
And dared the elements to do their worst,
A worst that I was very soon to know
When at the brink of space my vessel burst.

Paul Marlowe

Footnote:
*Jonathan Bing, an heroic cheese-maker appearing in several novels (ex. The Elfin Ship) by James P Blaylock.