A Herd of Watermelon
My work tools include rubber boots, a hydraulic
jack and snake tongs. Prevention over cure, always.
A helicopter’s shadow crosses the yard.
I sweat in cold weather; today even the shade burns.
Ants swarm a dead bat on the gravel.
No keys for these locks, no fire for that place.
Stepping inside, the city welcomes me.
We drain coffers for this grass, and hope for rain.
This morning two deer jumped the east fence while I
updated software. The significance eludes us.
A dream of watermelons rising from their viny beds,
lumbering through the field to the creek. Rebellion!
How many have sat at this desk before me, plotting
murders and rumors or rhymes. Die, mosquito. Die!
“A Herd of Watermelon” was drafted during the August 2016 Tupelo Press 30-30 Challenge. Thank you to Plain Jane for sponsoring the poem and providing the title.
O at the Edges 
π Hope you are doing well, Bob!
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Doing great, PJ! I hope this finds you well.
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Indeed π
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If there were a creek near, I think my crinums could have similarly rebelled at abandonment while we traveled (no watering during the hot summer). They were forlorn upon return! But survivors, and showing signs of potential forgiveness. (Rain would surely help!)
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Rain! Please!
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you write on with great clarity of thought, maybe watermelon or anything under he sun. Really a great poesy.
kindly read my posts/poems. leave a comment if you desire so. would feel obliged
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Thank you very much!
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All the best .
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You’ve enhanced my wonderful day with your glorious words, and your finale produced a smirky wry smile
“How many have sat at this desk before me, plotting
murders and rumors or rhymes. Die, mosquito. Die!”
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Ha! Thanks, Ivor. There’s always that one pesky mosquito!
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A herd of watermelons, haha. I find watermelon farms quite ugly, or maybe that’s just Jeju. I personally like the uniformity of barley or wheat. & don’t start me on mosquitoes, I must kill a dozen a day, pesky things. They can survive till December in Jeju. They itch like mad. Pretty sure they can teleport in & out of dimensions tooβyou slap down where they land, sure you got them, but where are they? Surely I got it, surely, then weeeezzzzzzz, drat! The bugger is in your ear’ol mocking you. How does it get there? Teleportation, must be.
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We’ve had so little rain this summer that mosquitoes haven’t been much of a problem. Still, if I’m outside for any length of time, they manage to find me. I agree. It must be teleportation.
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Come to think of it, other than a typhoon, we’ve had little heavy rain here. But Jeju is always humid. If you leave your house too long, mold inevitably grows. Some foreigner went traveling for 5 weeks, came back & mold was growing on his stuff, otherwise clean, but give Jeju time & everything gets taken by the mold. It’s crazy.
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We get plenty of clouds and humidity, but seldom enough rain. Scorpions probably make up for the lack of mosquitoes…
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Can scorpions teleport?
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No, for which I am grateful.
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Just the idea of a “herd of watermelon” delights! π
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That was Plain Jane’s sponsored title! I can picture them rolling across the field…
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“The significance eludes us”… yet again you find the best line(s).
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I think the deer found that line!
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