Worth of His Salt

The nomad stepped up to the scale,
And the merchant gestured towards the open plate.
The nomad stacked packed blocks of salt,
And slowly the scale shivered with the change.
As he stacked his salt he watched,
The merchant's weights on the other plate.
The scale was gold looking and the merchant's weights,
Were dark like charcoal, stacked tall and wide.
The nomad remembered how in the past,
The salt would go first, and the weights after.
The worth of a bounty determined by what was brought,
But now what was brought was worthless,
Unless it could match the merchant's weights.
He placed the last block on the scale and watched,
The scale arms settle with the weights hanging,
Just lower than the salt he had brought.
The merchant smiled, "sorry, friend."
The nomad watched the merchant collect the salt,
And was forced to walk away without salt or money.