Of Cantaloupes and Rings

The origin of cantaloupe rooted
there with the fallacy of rings,
ring bearers, divine right
and the House of God, those heirs.

We were at the end of grocery billing,
past the lettuce and onions,
past all the paper and cheese
when he looked up and declared,
"We paid a penny more for the tuna
than we should." Treaties,
oppressions and misers, fat kings.

As the army neared Kerbala
circling around searching
for water and aid and shelter
Abbas, nine years old at the time
only nine years old and nubile,
as nubile as David in Rome,
he'd lose his head and they, the ring.
Long time ago now.

Shammam. This is a shammam.
This one is for fifty cents,
this one is a dollar. This one was grown here
the other is frangee, an import.
How much did you pay for the shammam
she said and I answered her, a king's ransom.
"Yet they are both the same!" as she shook her head.
Any old ring and the same old melon.

Where is the penny and where is the ring?
A young man is hurrying to a station
in the deep south, determined to ship out.
They've no money for his ticket
and he comes back. In Kerbala
they fed camels the rinds of shammam
and one wore a ring.
When at last he will travel,
this young GI to Kerbala, he won't know
the origin of shammam, won't know it from the ring.