Manufactured Light
In 1968, she was a cute kid
in an encyclopedia, depicting
without those thousand words
how her country relies on
"Handmade Goods" to survive.
Americans could feel good
about that photo. Today's title
might be "Mexican Sweat Shop."
She sits in a column of light,
tiny eyes intent on a big sheaf
of straw that looks like shredded
documents or wheat. And she
weaves and weaves. Her leg
and foot are bare. Half in
the light, half in the shadows,
a pile of sombreros are stacked.
But no one dances around them.
—Mignon Ariel King, Boston, MA
