Portrait of a Photographer as a Young Skeleton

By Jose Hernandez Diaz

A skeleton sat in front of a café drinking coffee while he read a magazine. The magazine was called Deadly Sins Quarterly. The skeleton daydreamed about publishing his photography in the magazine. He took photos of the various realms of hell, mostly. He took a photo of Lucifer playing an acoustic guitar. He took photos of rivers of fire and clouds of smoke. He took photos of red dragons and old wizards. His photography was showcased in New York City, Paris, Mexico City, and, of course, Hell. The skeleton finished his coffee, tipped his waiter generously, and returned to the cemetery to practice yoga.




About the author:

Jose Hernandez Diaz is a 2017 NEA Poetry Fellow. His work appears in The American Poetry Review, Bat City Review, Cincinnati Review, Gigantic Sequins, Huizache, Iowa Review, The Missouri Review, The Nation, Poetry, and elsewhere. His chapbook of prose poems, The Fire Eater, is forthcoming on 2/14/20 with Texas Review Press. He tweets at @JoseHernandezDz.