Ginger Ale

I don’t drink soda as a rule,

But when I’m sick, I’m not a fool –

I think of sick days as a kid

And do the things my mother did.

 

She served us soup and toast and tea

And baked potatoes, naturally,

And then, of course, was ginger ale,

A stomach balm that would not fail.

 

So that’s the diet I’ve imbibed,

Exactly as I’ve just described.

Yet here’s a fact that I found strange

About how ginger ale did change.

 

We had one old can – ordered more

And when they got here from the store,

The new ones tasted much less sweet,

The reason worth a quick repeat.

 

The older version said it had

140 calories – not bad.

The current cans have 1-3-0,

For sugar’s not the way to go.

 

The old one brought me to my youth.

The newer one, to tell the truth,

Just wasn’t worth it to my tongue –

Its praises I would not have sung.

 

So now I’ll stick to herbal tea

Or Gatorade until I see

That I am back and in the clear

To sip my coffee and my beer.