Valentine's Day Poetry Contest 2012
It's time once again for culture's annual Valentine's day poetry contest. If music be the food of love, then cheese be the poetry of food... or love be cheese of music. Or something.
As always, the rules are simple: sign in and post your poetry in the comment thread below. Use any form you wish—sonnet or limerick or free-verse, and employ any muse, be it a fair lad, lass, monger, or succulent cheese—but your masterpiece must include both l'amour and le fromage. 
You can check out last year's entries for inspiration and read who won the judge's hearts.
Winning entries will receive either sweet chocolate and goat-cheese truffles from Briar Rose Creamery, or spicy chutney for cheese-pairing from Virginia Chutney, depending on how peppery their verse is.
Deadline for the contest is Friday, February 17. Please remember to sign into the site with your email address, so we can contact you if you win!
Cheese heart image via glindsay65.
there once was a young girl
there once was a young girl from Cheddar
who thought that nothing could be better
then some bread and some cheese
with jam if you please
and wine-when her mother would let her.
Cheesily Yours
They call me Cheesy - a compliment, mind you.
I love Brie, feta, and Danish blue.
Nibble on Gournay with a flax seed cracker.
Or grab a string cheese for the casual snacker.
Cottage cheese, cream cheese, cheesecake, Velveeta
Put cheese on your sandwich, your taco, your pita!
Wine and cheese as hors d'oeuvres for the sophisticate type.
Mozzarella and basil if the tomatoes are ripe.
Have you ever melted cheese? It might be the best kind.
Sometimes a good bowl of queso captivates my mind.
No matter your gender, religion, or race
Cheese unifies us and would be hard to replace.
So enjoy your cheese - eat and be grateful
For a world without cheese would be rather hateful.
one last cheesy poem ... for now
le fromage and l'amore, the challenge was posted,
and in my cheesy brain some connections were toasted.
i meant to post one, but i can't stop the words,
the bad rhymes, the puns, about great love and curds.
i ponder the sweet side of l'amore, c'est vrai,
and muse about cheese, le fromage, all day.
what evil genius started me down this track,
now how in the world do i get myself back?
wasn't going for volume, wasn't going for most.
this really must be the last one that i post.
for now...
lisa
Homage to Fromage
homage to fromage
one early morning
when i -alone-
brought out a brand new wheel
and
cracked it open,
i fell in
love
all over again
after tasting the yielding paste,
which had never been sampled
in its entire life.
what a
treat,
o virgin cheese.
the perk of being a
cheesemonger.
another cheesy poem
oh dolce, goronzola dolce!
blue veins coursing through your tender flesh.
tantalizing tangy tingle on my toungue.
spread creamy moist and softly yielding.
blue!
oh dolce blue...
lisa
Haiku Loves Goat Cheese
Haiku loves goat cheese
Chivas and chevre know terroir
Capri deli cious!
Another cheesy poem. (I can't stop!)
Give me chocolate,
Give me cheese,
Give me wine,
Love me please.
I am yours.
lisa
Bries (with apologies to Joyce Kilmer)
I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a Brie.
A Brie whose oozing paste is best,
A soft moist squish when gently pressed.
A Brie that ages day by day,
The cultures grow and rot away;
A Brie that may dry out in air,
Must light protective wrapping wear.
From whose paste the curds must drain;
And on whose rind the molds then reign.
Poems are made by fools like me,
But only molds can make a Brie.
cheesey correction
oops, that was supposed to be "From whose curds the whey must drain;"
and it was submitted with deep apologies to Joyce Kilmer!
cheesy poem number 2
There once was a cheese with great paste,
Oh, delicious and smooth did it taste!
It was love at first bite,
And I ate all in sight,
So it's gone and expanded my waist...
cheesy poem number 1
L'amore and Le fromage
Fromage is the french word for cheese,
And Amore, that means love, if you please.
Let's have some good Swiss,
And then share a deep kiss,
Till we swoon, falling down to our knees.
poem submission
"L'amour de le Fromage"
Alone upon a blue Delft plate,
A golden morsel sits forlorn--
Remainder of all I just ate
From a massive yellow wheel a-shorn.
"Wee toasty Fromage," I dare to mutter,
I think your taste will be sublime,
And, too, l'amour will be tres utter,
So now, small chunk, it is your time
To be popped into my longing mouth,
There warmed and slurped o'er teeth and tongue
Before I smack and send you south,
Your cheesy praises to be sung,
Your cheesy praises to be sung!
The Lyon Market
An early morning, flanked by housekeepers and surly chefs.
The Rhone roaring, the vendors competing
a linear walk becomes a spin.
Red tomatoes, sliced, glistening in the April sun. Baguettes reaching from a straw basket. Chickens turning lazily on a squeaking spit.
Daisies, roses, wheels of cheese under glass and watchful eye; they seem to be breathing, waiting to be plucked.
Further: a man with an accordion and a creaking cart near to collapse under books.
A bicycle wheel, a broken frame - barely containing a plastic-filmed print of Brigitte Bardot.
I am no match for the old women, expert with their wheeled carts and bags. I am swayed completely by florists, cheesemongers, a man with a flute.
Do they know their every Sunday is an attraction for the well-traveled
Do see they see the colors the same way as I - smell the rotisserie, regard Ms. Bardot -
Or do they return from their errands blase´, vague impressions held of cooks with fistfuls of herbs
and a foreign girl, standing alone.
-j. stevenson
Love the free-verse approach.
Love the free-verse approach. A strong contender for the sweet, what with "the baguettes reaching from the basket" and all.
Thanks so much! photos and
Thanks so much! photos and video of Briar Farms Creamery truffles pending. ;)
Ode to cheese
Le fromage, l'amour indeed, of my sweet life,
You could be mine husband and my wife,
With crackers, biscuits, toast and jam,
Or all alone, no need for glam,
Your beguiling ways, so fashion rich.
With blues and reds yet not a stitch,
In sight, to lure the eye away.
Oh dance upon my tongue, so I may sway.
I'll wash you down perhaps, with heady red,
Or simply celebrate with bubbly instead.
Oh le fromage, l'amour indeed, of all my days
You bring such joy in oh so many ways.
Love the rhyme, but why
Love the rhyme, but why didn't you register? If you don't sign in w/ an email address, we can't send you anything if you win...
L'amour and le fromage
Valentine's l'amour
No chocolate kisses here
Le fromage says "love."
Never hurts to be concise!
Never hurts to be concise! Also love your literal interpretation of the l'amour and le fromage rule.
CHEESE Please!
Diamonds, Silver, Gold -
I love you more than these.
Nothing more I want this year
than CHEESE, CHEESE, Please?
Give me Tomme & Camembert,
Cheddar Curds & Brie -
I like it hot - all covered up
Surprise me and you’ll see!
And for dessert, I would love...
No chocolate mousse for me,
But cheese and fruit upon my plate
That’s really all I need!
I love how you're beseeching
I love how you're beseeching your lover: give me what I need!
I can't wait to read these,
I can't wait to read these, if you are going to post any of them. I hope that there will be a lot of submissions that are wonderful. Please keep us posted on all that is happening.
Poetry contests are always very popular until legalization and there will no doubt be a lot of both seasoned and new poets out there who will enter.
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