The Napowrimo.net prompt for Day 26 is to write a poem that engages the five senses.

The Golden Age of Shasta

The orange on the screen is a little too vivid—it’s almost red

It’s supposed to be orange soda in the glass
but it looks more like red apple, or maybe strawberry

My mouth waters at the memory
of all those Shasta sodas…

They were the perfect summer soft drink
ice cold out of the refrigerator
condensation would run down the can
and tickle my wrist with its trickling chill

Then the crisp, metallic rip-and-click as I removed the tab
activating the effervescent sizzle of the carbonated contents

My favorites were green apple, black cherry, and strawberry
each had their own particular bouquet
that enhanced the flavor

(Had there been such a thing as a soda sommelier
I would have been perfect for the job)

On the other hand
the short-lived chocolate flavor was horrible:
chocolate and carbonation were not a good combination
and it didn’t particularly have a smell to redeem it
It was just…brown

Mud would have been a more appetizing flavor

This golden era of Shasta sodas
would have to come to an end eventually

For me, it was in 1978
after I heard ‘Perrier Blues’
on Jimmy Buffett’s live album

Suddenly, I was all about the Perrier—
for a few months, anyway

I could really go for a green apple soda
right about now…

(25 April 2018—posted April 26th)