(x = space)

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Hola, Everyone Gone on Before

(All Souls)

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The veil we talk about

At Hallowe’en, the one that

Causes us to hide from

Ghosts and things, is thinned

Today with love

So that we might have

Concourse with the dead we know

To remember fondly

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The cultures that define, promote,

And celebrate this day—well,

They are smart

Wise in understanding

That family is a matter of

Connection, and there are threads

That intertwine through

Generations

And I am saying this plainly, I suppose,

Without to some

Enough poetic

Protocol, but tonight there will be

Remembrances at gravesides

With everyone straightforwardly

Conversing with each other

And in company

With those they haven’t

Been with for a while,

Maybe since last year

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Tío, he was a so-and-so—

Yes, you know you were—but

We are glad to think of

Him tonight, and we miss

You, Tío

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If they are or were really bad,

Then I guess we do not talk

With them or bring them

Up with words,

Though maybe everyone we do not

Live with anymore is given more

Understanding, the kind that comes

We know

From time and distance

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So who knows what might

Come about in

Understanding

¿Quién sabe?

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I don’t know what

Children think

About all this,

Though I imagine they

Understand it all

Better than we grownups

And won’t mind talking with

Grandparents,

Family friends,

Or anyone understood

To have drawn nearer

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C L Couch

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By J Mndz – https://www.flickr.com/photos/jorge_mendez/50398993712/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=94849432

San Andrés de Mixquic es un pueblo situado en la delegación de Tláhuac, al sur de la Ciudad de México. En este lugar la celebración del Día de los Muertos se hace de una manera particular. Las ofrendas se colocan sobre las tumbas y el cementerio está completamente adornado de flores. La noche es el escenario perfecto, pues los visitantes llegan aproximadamente a las 7 de la noche con velas que alumbran el lugar y proporcionan un espectagulo luminoso magnífico.

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