The Macaw in the Oaxaca Market (Mexico)

An impression of a beautiful caged bird

In the stream of vermillion. gala gold,
chili peppers and dried fish--
in the nervous, perpetual motion of the market
and the squawks
that mix with the buying and selling

is a macaw
who remembers freedom.

The king sets his cage on fire with his colors,
yearns for his perch atop the mighty ceiba tree
where he governs
the jungles beneath him.

Indian women
carrying babies with curling toes
glance at him, absently,
but are not wooed by his song.

As the day bargains its way into dusk,
the king becomes a jabbering court jester,
in a comical, overdone suit.


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