We know they day of the dead is fast approaching when the stores fill up with silk flowers.

Ceremonialized on the 1st and 2nd of November – it is a time for the family to assemble and remember loved ones who have died.

Drive by any cemetery in Mexico and the grave sites pop with color like Skittles in your palm.

Included in this annual celebration is a gathering at the cemetery to clean the grave site, adorn it with silk flowers and favorite items enjoyed by departed loved ones.

A sad but joyous occasion.

However, lingering near all this color lurks a dark side, the forgotten and discarded.

El día que muiró la flor de seda – the day the silk flower died.