With Her Hands
Larry D. Thomas
Los Días de los Muertos
(Big Bend area, far West Texas)
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.