Before Iftar (Part 1)

(image credit)

Muslims around the world celebrate Ramadan, which is a very sacred, yearly holiday that lasts about 30 days.  Each day, from sunrise to sundown, they are not allowed to consume anything: no food, no water, no smoking etc.  Iftar is the breaking of the fast at sundown.

The man is wearing a red cap and shirt,
With yellow for his collar, and black pants.
He squats beside a bucket of the red
He wears, and carefully prepares for Iftar.
The tray upon the graveled ground is large,
Fit for a group of men ready to break
Their fast. For everything about him here –
The color of his clothes, the things he does –
Reflects the bounty of banana cut
For grateful bites and watermelon sliced
Meant for the tray and picked up with two hands.
The tray and his positioning let him
Be cradled in the bosom of the earth.

Before Iftar (Part 1) © Ron Villejo