With Her Hands
in an antique
Mexican bowl,
Helga kneads
the white paste
of sugar, water,
and meringue powder.
Feigning sleep,
Irene listens for,
like fresh snow
squeezed into
a snowball,
the crunching sound
the paste will make
as Helga,
after kneading it
to just the right
consistency,
presses it
into the mold
of a plastic
human skull.
Larry D. Thomas
Los Días de los Muertos
(Big Bend area, far West Texas)