Beth Spencer, multimedia poet [] San Miguel Poetry Cafe

Poetic Memories Honor Mexico’s Day of the Dead

by Lee Harris

San Miguel Poetry Cafe’s monthly program will feature poems in honor of Mexico’s Day of the Dead celebrations on Tuesday, November 2. Poet Beth Spencer will give Zoom viewers a multimedia presentation of her poems that are welcoming memories of loved ones who have died, and also ones that illuminate significant times in her own life. She describes it as a poetry reading for highly visual people, with photos and graphics.

Her poetic memories of family and friends are centered around the term “obituary”, which she refers to as “the Cliff Notes of life”. Her other poems reflect upon what was described by another poet, Linda Ellis, as “the dash between the birth date and death date on tombstones” which represents our present day life.

Always a writer, in fifth grade Beth Spencer won first place in a contest with a poem called Why I Like to Read Good Books. Her prize was an atlas showing a world that has much changed since then. She allowed that early success to persuade her to keep at it…writing, that is.

Beth has been published in Wisconsin Review, Rag Mag, Wisconsin Poets’ Calendar, and Carve magazine, among others. Her essay on teaching appeared in a Geraldine R. Dodge project, A Passion for Teaching. She won first prize in the Dorothy Dalton poetry contest and a recent honorable mention in a contest at The Mill, Appleton, Wisconsin.

Recently, her poetry has appeared in Oasis, Solamente en San Miguel, Martin Lake Poetry Journal and in several online journals. An essay was published online in The Sunlight Press. She lives a few months each year in San Miguel de Allende, where she enjoys the contrast between the Minnesota winters and those of central Mexico. Her first book, “C- in Conduct”, is available at Amazon.

Please pre-register for your complimentary Zoom link at https://sanmiguelliterarysala.org for the November 2 presentation. Please note: Daylight Saving time ends in Mexico on October 31, and ends November 7 in most of  the United States and in Canada. Check your local time zone.

The San Miguel Poetry Café is an all-volunteer organization that presents live poetry readings by both emerging and established poets worldwide, through the month of March in the current season, part of the San Miguel Literary Sala.