Picking Cantaloupe
How do you pick a cantaloupe?
Do you feel the webbing on the skin?
Do you see if the ends have some give?
Do you hold the melon close to your nose,
Inhaling with the hope of a sweet ripe aroma?
Even veteran cantaloupe pickers
Are sometimes fooled
And have to face the unexpected
Condition of the spoiled flesh within
What can you do?
You have used your best judgment and skill
But when it’s time to taste
You find that the product suffers from
Unexpected poor flavor and texture
There is no denying the fact
Sometime the investment fails to mature
Sometime patience is not rewarded
You recognize at an early stage
That the earnest endeavor made in good faith
Will carry with it the seeds of disappointment
What will happen the next time you want melon?
Will you poke the fruit as you test the smell?
Will the memory of pierced inedible fruit
Leap into your mind and guide your choice?
Will you pass by vowing not to endure disappointment again?
How many times must you take the risky melon-picking test
Before you decide who you are?
To pick or not pick, that is the question
Soon to discover if the fruit gods have smiled upon you
Will you learn one day that the world admires a relentless melon picker?
