Feb 5, 2013 | A Filament of Hope
Because the elevator’s out, the woman, drenched in sweat and winded after climbing up 5 flights of stairs with heavy bags of groceries, mumbles curses to herself. All the years of waiting to rebuild her quads and abs and stamina — she gasps for breath and feels...
Jul 31, 2012 | A Filament of Hope
I’m sitting with a pad and pen in Starbucks, Staring into space from where poetic inspiration Often comes as if by magic, when a gorgeous Butch Latina dyke strolls in to get a latte. In my Dreams our eyes meet and we smile in recognition, Nothing more, not cruising,...
Jul 27, 2012 | A Filament of Hope
Your mother’s body, still robust from Many years of treadmill walking, Careful eating and tai chi, Is forgetting how to hold a fork and Make her favorite chair recline. You’ve mostly gotten used to her Not knowing who you are and how She asks you every 30 minutes...
Jul 25, 2012 | A Filament of Hope
You try to shoulder your way in, The grown-ups’ conversation, how They’re saying things that seem to matter, No one looking down to where you’re standing, With your hands on hips and hoping that Your furrowed brow will let you get a word in edgewise. All you want to...
Jul 25, 2012 | A Filament of Hope
I used to scamper up the rocks as though my feet had eyes, The New York City outcrops in the parks providing Moonscapes, alpine ridges, pyramids, and pueblos. No classrooms, homework, Angry parents, bossy older brothers — Only me, a chubby tomboy, doing somersaults—...
Jul 23, 2012 | A Filament of Hope
In elevators, supermarkets, & restaurants across the nation, total strangers feel compelled to talk about the weather. Sometimes frightened from the facts of it: how tornados now touch down in Scarsdale and New Hampshire, how the winter’s warmth supports the...
Whether through Shamanic practice, through ministry, or through art, Riva finds peace and practice in spreading love, compassion, and empathy for the self and others. 