NOCHE DE LOS RABANOS/

NIGHT OF THE RADISHES

from "Pictorial Oaxaca"

It is tradition.
Each December 23
They come from the Seven Regions of Oaxaca
In celebration and competition
To carve their radishes.

Early morning stalls are set up
Around the zocalo.
Tourist,local and vendor alike
Gather to watch.

Families work through the day.
From their hands, the giant radishes
Emerge.
Dancing
Praying
Zapotec gods ,Virgens and cathedrals
Tehuanas,iguanas and Frida.
There is no end
To their imagination.

Long lines form in the evening
As the judging begins.
Fireworks sputter,boom
And slice the night.
As bandas play.

After all,it is a fiesta
And life is a fiesta.

In the morning
It will all be gone.
Swept away.
And you think,

"Was it all a dream?"