Calaveras literarias: Mexican humorous verses and original examples

Build a short scene

Choose a recognizable habit, such as postponing paperwork or arriving late. Introduce the calaca with a simple intention, then let that habit complicate the encounter. A final reversal gives the scene its humor. The references document the tradition, not authorship of our contemporary examples.

Write your own version

• Choose a person or situation respectfully.
• Introduce death as a character with an intention.
• Add a complication drawn from the everyday habit.
• Create an unexpected ending.
• Read aloud and remove jokes that depend on private information or a recent loss.

Read the original Spanish examples

Our companion Spanish page includes five original short verses and a printable PDF. Those resources remain in Spanish so that their wordplay and rhyme can be read as written. They are contemporary Decalavera exercises, not historic poems attributed to Posada or verses copied from an archive.