Battered & beaten by the currents of life
A dark shadow loomed to represent their strife.
Washed up on the reef as the next wave approached
Onlookers knew they were at the end of their rope.
Not once, but thrice with gut wrenching grief
Dealt several harsh blows with no signs of relief .
Knocked down the both of them certainly were
Their physical and emotional healing was unsure.
On their concluding breath, the ocean did surrender
they emerged as new with more strength & splendor.
A dark shadow loomed to represent their strife.
Washed up on the reef as the next wave approached
Onlookers knew they were at the end of their rope.
Not once, but thrice with gut wrenching grief
Dealt several harsh blows with no signs of relief .
Knocked down the both of them certainly were
Their physical and emotional healing was unsure.
On their concluding breath, the ocean did surrender
they emerged as new with more strength & splendor.
Calavera poems {like the one above} are written as part of Dia de los Muertos celebrations. The poems are written in a humorous manner; for the living, which suggest they are dead. Friends write them out of love for each other and oftentimes, politicians and famous people are the recipients of these harsh satirical poems....written to remind us that we all end up in the same place {with nothing}, in the end.
As my own calavera poem implies, it has been a long hard year....hence the neglect of our blog & our withdraw from social media. The process of putting up our own personal altar this year was very helpful in the healing process of losing both grandparents & our beloved fifteen year old dog.
Dia de los Muertos has become one of my favorite holidays to celebrate. Grocery stores, schools and homes construct colorful altars as a way to honor the lives of the deceased. The Aztecs did not believe in grieving and a somewhat joyous ceremony surrounded the loss of their loved ones, each year in November. The ceremonies included food, music and drink offerings believed to entice their ancestors back into their home for one night each year, as a way to celebrate their lives.
The contents of altars are symbolic and the most typical items include:
photographs, sugar skulls, favorite foods to nourish the dead on their long journey & alcohol to toast their arrival, papel picado {decorated tissue paper flags} to remind the living of the fragility of life, candles to lead them back to the land of the living, marigold flowers, water to replenish them after their long trip and personal articles they enjoyed while living.
The contents of altars are symbolic and the most typical items include:
photographs, sugar skulls, favorite foods to nourish the dead on their long journey & alcohol to toast their arrival, papel picado {decorated tissue paper flags} to remind the living of the fragility of life, candles to lead them back to the land of the living, marigold flowers, water to replenish them after their long trip and personal articles they enjoyed while living.
Thank you Mexico {and the passing of time} for helping us to pick our heads up and move closer to healing our wounded hearts.
