Jubilation Ode

Granddaddy
doesn't know
that slaves along the Nile
once loaded Jubilation
Royal Sweets
into long boats
to nourish pharaohs
on their journey
to the afterlife.

Today
under Alabama sun
Granddaddy
picks watermelon
on his tenant farm
in Pinson.

Dressed in bib overalls,
Baptist Granddaddy
praises the Lord
for the harvest
then loads Jubilation,
green striped beauties,
into his red Ford pickup
to deliver to
Birmingham city folk
for the Fourth of July.

Elizabeth M Van Hook