The Potion

A friend had a bad cold over the weekend and I recommended something that John Muggeridge used to make for me when I was sick. He tried it and it worked so well, he has given us a poem about it.

To water, boiled and simmered with a slice
Of lemon grown in hot Sicilia
(Its juice squeezed in, and flesh scraped in by shreds)
Spoon in smooth honey, dealt in liberal scoops
And stirred until dissolved. A tot of rum,
Shipped to these shelves from Caribbean shores,
Measured and poured, expended in the mix,
Precedes two spoons of sugar, tropic, brown,
To give the potent dose its final kick,
To clear the stoppered caverns of the nose,
To soothe the raw throat and to warm the brain,
Unbinding spirits shackled by the cold,
Clearing packed matter, and allowing passage
To breathe again, humane, and light, and free.

Really. I can't recommend it enough. Especially effective when consumed in front of a roaring fire.