Oh, Mariachi Me

If you have ever planned a dinner party with the intention of dessert dissolving into dancing, you know it can be a tricky transition to pull off. I've never seen it happen with such ease as at parties in Nicaragua, when you look up mid-bite to see a tiny car open and an 8 (over-sized) piece mariachi band emerge.



This picture reminds me not only of those fun parties, but also of this poem by Ted Kooser:

Oh, Mariachi Me

All my life I have wanted nothing so much
as the love of women. For them I have fashioned
the myth of myself, the singing troubadour
with the flashing eyes. Always for them
my black sombrero with its swinging tassels,
this vest embroidered with hearts, these trousers
with silver studs down the seams. Oh, I am
Mariachi me, as I had intended. I am success
and the price of success, now old and dusty
at the edge of the dance floor, still smiling,
heavy with hope, clutching my dead guitar.


Oh how sweet and sad! I too have fashioned the myth of myself, still smiling and heavy with hope. Now let's party!

photo by Tec Petaja


thanks to Tommy for this update: