Ode to Beer

O! Woman’s drink from times Sumerian

Stolen from feminine hands in ages past

Brewed until Elizabeth to support children

Then taken by greedy innkeepers at last

Just as midwifes were pushed out of medicine

To satisfy Renaissance man’s cruel bombast

In Papua New Guinea made with women’s spit

Still the life filled aqua vitae of fermentation

Ample bosomed hippies wash their hair with it

In English lands it rules the pubs of the nation

From Quebec comes La Fin du Monde and le Maudit

To go with poutine or else just for degustation

I admit I did not appreciate you as a youth

And still don’t enjoy your dark bitter brew

I preferred the decadent grape in truth

And did so for ages till better I knew

The pleasant bite of your bitter tooth

The camaraderie of those who drink you