Teetering on the platter

A treat for human senses

It’s food to make you fatter

Crushing all of your defences

 

Its snowy dunes and hollows

Of flouncy sweet meringue

Are made for ample swallows

Of dessert sturm und drang

 

Ignore it at your peril

Its appeal you can’t deny

When hunger makes you feral

Reach for lemon meringue pie

 

Its gaudy citrus layer

Would make Andy Williams croon

Its surface has the texture

Of one of Saturn’s moons

 

When it emerges on a baking tray

There’s a sharp intake of breath

Like slighting Ron or Reggie Kray

It will edge you closer to your death

 

Those lightly toasted minarets

Promise so much underneath

Cooled gently overnight it sets

With a crust to tempt your teeth

 

Lemon meringue pie

Lemon meringue pie

Have it while the bottom’s dry

Get your spoons, don’t be shy

 

What’s the question?

Tell them why

Divine, dividing

Slice of slip sliding

 

Lemon meringue pie