Día de Muertos

altar en la Biblioteca de Mesa College

un camino fragante de Cempaxóchitl
que desde la puerta de tu alma
hasta la tumba eterna,
en una noche fresca,
me habrá de guiar

----

guided shall i be
from the doorstep of your soul
into an eternal grave
by a Cempaxóchitl fragrant path
imperturbable shall be that night

----

the 2 little poems above
are my foolish attempts
to honor, in Spanish, and English
the Death, my own,
and the death of all of us,
of all the rest...

as for the Day of the Dead
is a homage to death as is
death intrinsic to life

a summoning Mexican -not holiday
but Holy Day

ich möchte nächstes Jahr
kann ich eine kleine Gedicht
über Tot, auf Deutsch
schreiben
... ja! hoffentlich... nächstes Jahr

Día de Muertos is about "Calaveritas" too!

little poems or riddles that people exchange
we write on each other's friends life and likes and dislikes
little lyrics that make fun in a very ironic way
of how we imagine the "Death" will come and pick you
according to what you do in life

so i exchanged "Calaveritas" with Euzmar
a mexican girl living in Barcelona
from 23hq.com

here she wrote me one here
in this photo of mine
http://www.23hq.com/bere/photo/2531575

"Tan bonita Berenita..
ya la llevan a enterrar...
entre dulces y tequilas..
Sus amigos lloran ya...

Dicen que le gustaba cantar..
dicen que le gustaba reir...
pero lo que más le gustaba..
era fotografiar!"

and i wrote her one back tonight:
http://www.23hq.com/euzmar/photo/2524241

"estaba euzmarsita bonita
con su mami muy bien sentadita
cuando la muerte la vino a buscar

pero la euz le dijo
oye muerte? no te puedes esperar?
mira mídete estos anillos
y si te gustan
te los puedes tu llevar en mi lugar

pero la muerte le dijo
si quieres linda euz
de mí muchas fotos puedes tu tomar
pero con todo y anillos
a tí, con tu linda sonrisa
también te puedo cargar!"

these Calaveritas are in Español
no other way for Calaveritas

some fantastic photos
of Mexican people
with ofrendas at the graves
here

y Feliz Día de los Muertos
i hope i find some
Pan de Muerto
around für Frühstück (heh heh)


detalle Frida Kahlo- altar en la Biblioteca de Mesa College

día de muertos

no Halloween in Mexico, gracias a Dios
instead we have Día de Muertos
a whole different tradition...

here a typical ofrenda
the idea is to "offer" to our dead relatives and friends
the food, drinks, and things they used to enjoy while they were alive
the tradition says to put traditional mexican food

like tamales, candied pumpkin, pollo con mole, atole,
fruits from the Fall, and of course tequila, and café
and water all for the long road to the other world...

one very important part of the ofrenda is the pan de muerto
(check the recipe on the link above, and send me some ?)
bread that is baked just around this time of the year
delicious! it is called pan de muerto and if you see
the part of the bread sticking resemble bones...
creepy but delicious, if you have access to a mexican bakery
make sure to buy some, they just bake it around late October and early Novembre

of course if the dead guy used to smoke, well a pack of his/hers cigarettes
as well as chocolates and toys or other little belongings

usually the family who puts the ofrenda also traces a road of flower petals
from the door of the house to the place where the ofrenda is placed
the flowers to use to make this petals road are called Zenpasuchitl
yellow flowers traditional used these days

a wonderful, colorful and dark celebration of life, somehow
a tradition that speaks a lot of this magical mexican way of seeing life...

Halloween 08

Halloween came again
days of pumpkins
horror films
and sugary treats



a quiet evening for me
a little warm here in hell
but look!
another pumpkin here
the '4734'



next to the 4734 is an little artifact made out of a pumpkin too
an Argentinian Yerba Mate drinking cup
the 'straw' is made out of metal (silver, i think?)
talking about art made out of pumpkins
as for misses 4734
once opened showed was no cooking material
it was a little old for that so, so...



so a 'modernist' mini Jack-O-Lantern became


my carved pumpkin, Jack-O-Lantern - day 1

and Turner Classic Movies selections for the night
Horror films based on books by H.P. Lovecraft
a long time preferred author of mine

The Shuttered Room (from 1967)



Die, Monster, Die! (from 1965)
(the original name of the book
was "The color of out of space"
a delightfully creepy reading



so with devilish horns
and an old dried Jack-O-Pumpkin
after a couple of days


my carved pumpkin, Jack-O-Lantern - day 3 (premature aging?)

i spent a sugary scary night
have a good Halloween too
and let the witches and ghosts
go merry around you

tomorrow and Sunday
will be for me to celebrate the mexican
Día De Muertos