Patricia Williams

“How do you govern a country that has
two-hundred and forty-six varieties of cheese?”
– Charles de Gaulle

I remember my days in Lyon –
classical ruins on the sheer hillside,
Renaissance routes from street to street,
kaleidoscope colors of the ancient silk trade,
– and most of all –
farmer’s markets filled with splendor.

Premium beef, poultry of Bresse,
twenty-two species of potato,
deep-lake fish from the French Alps district,
wine from vineyards terraced in Roman times,
– and cheese, beautiful cheese –
in shades from cream to amber.

Camembert and brie, munster and ch?vre,
blue-veined cheeses of the central region,
cheese produced by one lone farmer
from a single herd of cows
– all with names –
that roam freely in the mountains.