Pomegranate Trees

My mother died in 1983. It was sudden and yet expected as she had a blood transfusion 15 years earlier tainted with Hepatitis C. It lurked silently in her body for all those years, and then reared its head, and in a few months, she was gone. 

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Beth Riley
Poetry, Continuum, & Creativity

Art makes a bridge, from the inner world of soulful truth to the outer world of social engagement and cultural expectations. Poetry was a portal to the otherwise inaccessible, inexpressible reality of my inner life. Through that portal, I entered into spiritual life. Poetry and prayer became synonymous.

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Beth Riley
Befriending the Death in Life

Driving from our home in Santa Cruz, CA southward on Highway 101, Mark and I are on our way to celebrate his Mom 80th Birthday. She has lived as a widow for over 20 years. Traveling alongside the Pacific Ocean we round the curve just north of Santa Barbara when the song, “The Streets of Laredo” comes on the radio.

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Beth Riley