The Duhat and the Watermelon

Dr Abe V Rotor
                                 

                        

Wearily I walked one summer day,

     The sky was as the sea is blue.

And thought, “Water must be nearby.”

     And so I walked on to where it lay –

A hill rose, a tree stood untold,

      Old were its branches but full;

By measure of my thirst and hunger,

      Its fruits were the sweetest of all.

                             With bare hands I cupped the manna,
                                      And feasted on it with no choice,
                             Then laid down under the tree’s shade
                                     Yearning still for a greater fill.

Thus I searched beyond for more gifts;

     And on a crawling vine did appear

Big, big fruits, but bigger was my lust,

      And I had my fill at last.

“A full stomach makes the head light,”

      My father used to tell me then,

“From thoughts to dreams they go wild,

      Seeking for other dreams.”

I dreamt I asked God something trivial -

     Why small are the duhat fruits;

And the watermelon, frail and crawling,

     Bears the biggest fruit on earth.

“There could have been some mistake,” I said

     And waited for any response.

“There must be reason in faith,” I implored.

    But only silence that I heard.

All of a sudden I woke up in a jolt,

     A berry had fallen on my head,

Whether by Sir Newton’s law that it fell,

    Or a Darwin’s finch that came.

I raised my hands to the sky and cried

     In atonement and in praise,

“Oh God, Oh God, there’s no mistake,  
     There’s no mistake.” ~

Acknowledgment: Photos from the Internet