Three Inch Day of the Dead Musician, by Joan Larkin

Day of the Dead figurine, anonymous folk art (Mexico), late 20th century. Photo by author.

Three Inch Day of the Dead Musician

No shoes, no shirt,        
flaked ribs and spine    
a threadbare tux,

you grip your wire bow,
stroke air, bone fiddle lost        
somewhere you stood propped.

Grin unglued
you died a second time:    
bits of a man no glue can fix.    

Ghost bones, ghost hat aslant,
small inarticulate                 
shadow on my desk,               
                    
what are you that
I mend not, nor forget?

Joan Larkin

Joan Larkin's most recent collections are Blue Hanuman and My Body: New and Selected Poems, both published by Hanging Loose Press. A longtime teacher and resident of Brooklyn, she now lives in southern Arizona. Her honours include the Shelley Memorial Award and the Academy of American Poets Fellowship. More at www.joanlarkin.com
        ​