Gabrie-Ale inspired poetry

by Nick Milne (past Gilbert & Frances Scholarship award winner).

Now hear of the hundreds so hearty and hale
Who drunk of the dregs of the Gabri-ale;
Who shouted for glory and clenchèd their fists,
And cried out, "good heavens, that flavour persists!"

They quaffed it like water and praised it like wine;
They called it exquisite; they said it was fine;
They toasted the Pope and the Infant on high,
And they fought with the earth and eloped with the sky.

And each man, sincerely, who had drunk so well:
"I alone have escaped to tell."

Well, Nick, we'll miss you again this year. But thanks for the poetry.