SONG TO GLUTTONY OUT OF REACH

New Zealand Listener, Volume 19, Issue 480, 3 September 1948, Page 10

SONG TO GLUTTONY OUT OF REACH

OUR in cream until the mass of porridge stirs And circles gravely in the breakfast bowl; Shake on brown sugar, stuck in lumps like burrs, While smooth contentment steals into the soul, Plunge in the spoon, knowing with insurance ad, serenity Of things to come; omelette, crisp, curled bacon, Thick, butter-dripping toast and bitter Oxford marmalade, Three cups of coffee, fragrant, freshly groundBut ‘not for me, chum, never more for me. Pass me that tablet, fifty milligrams of C, Treatment prescribed for a protein allergy. : QUEEZE thin juice {rom the Meyer rind (Essential oils lie waiting in that skin), Green essence from the heart of cabbage grind, (You're right, it doesn’t taste like gin) Munching a frozen carrot greet the dawn with glee, ‘Dance until noon, knowing full well a cold and meatless lunch Usurps the place of savoury spiced casseroles, fricassee of fowl, Kinetic cutried stews, a tender fried soleAll for you, chum, never more for me. Histamine conquers, mucus courses free, Just benadryl and glucose for a protein allergy. WERE these the hands that lingered in the bowl? Rubbed wholemeal, onion, butter, egg and chives, Diverse entities, into a sensuous mystic whole Called stuffing, merged their lives To plump out a roast duck? Let me sniff before the flavours flee; A hint of opulent pork crackling lingers yet, An oyster nuance, a clinging breath of nutmeg from rum punch, A faint stain of summer’s cherry pieOver to you, chum; you never more will see . Or dine with the sweet glutton that I used to be.

Now hoisted with his protein allergy.

G. leF.

Y.