El Dia de los Muertos
by Joani Reese
"The path back to the living must not be made slippery by tears."
(Mexican proverb)
Marigolds blaze yellow under Oaxacan sun.
Their slender necks stretch above fern foliage.
Stars of this late October hillside, they drape
their riches over the edges of terra cotta
like a beautiful woman lounging naked on a chaise,
denying the time-bound limits of beauty.
They wear their bodies recklessly, these cempazuchitl,
these flowers of the dead. Soon, an elder's hand
will pluck them from this life, mix their petals
on the ofrenda, shrouded by the incense of copal,
the backs of his descendants bent beneath a colder sun.
Subsuming their bright allotment on foreign soil,
the lost children of Mictecacihuatl dream of sugared skulls
and warm hojaldra as they lie under a canopy of snow.
Someday they, too, may return to wreathe the fleshless grin
of this country, the nexus of their souls. La Pelona is filled
but never sated with the bodies of her dead.
1. ofrenda = altar
2. Mictecacihuatl = goddess of the underworld
3. hojaldra = Mexican puff pastry
4. La Pelona = The Grim Reaper
Marigolds blaze yellow under Oaxacan sun.
Their slender necks stretch above fern foliage.
Stars of this late October hillside, they drape
their riches over the edges of terra cotta
like a beautiful woman lounging naked on a chaise,
denying the time-bound limits of beauty.
They wear their bodies recklessly, these cempazuchitl,
these flowers of the dead. Soon, an elder's hand
will pluck them from this life, mix their petals
on the ofrenda, shrouded by the incense of copal,
the backs of his descendants bent beneath a colder sun.
Subsuming their bright allotment on foreign soil,
the lost children of Mictecacihuatl dream of sugared skulls
and warm hojaldra as they lie under a canopy of snow.
Someday they, too, may return to wreathe the fleshless grin
of this country, the nexus of their souls. La Pelona is filled
but never sated with the bodies of her dead.
1. ofrenda = altar
2. Mictecacihuatl = goddess of the underworld
3. hojaldra = Mexican puff pastry
4. La Pelona = The Grim Reaper
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Author's Note
For all the dead who've gone before us. I hope they danced a little on the way, enough to leave a sparkling footprint we'll follow into night. I can't recall where this was published. It might have been Gutter Eloquence...
Other stories by Joani Reese
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*Beautiful
Spanish is not my tongue, but I like the spirit of this.
Well done, my favorite holiday.
This is gorgeous. * I didn't appreciate the Day of the Dead quite until I saw the movie Coco last year.
Excellent.
Beautiful and beautifully written.
*
It's lovely. Marigolds enhance everything they touch.
Thanks everyone. I appreciate the reads and comments.
Still breathtaking, still.
*
Thank you. <3
"They wear their bodies recklessly, these cempazuchitl,
these flowers of the dead."
Great piece.
Damn. You make me miss Mexico sooooooo much.
Thanks, Steve and Sam. xo
So much to take from these verses. Fantastic