Every Venezuelan has lived this moment. An American asks, “Where are you from?”You answer, “Venezuela.”They reply, confidently: “Minnesota?” I don’t know if it’s the rhythm of the word, the way we roll the Z, or just the fact that people hear what they’re already familiar with. But it happens every time. Venezuela becomes Minnesota. A […]
Dejate de esa vaina, compadre Let your pulse slow down We’re siblings, you and I Not much different, yet not similar In any way Even though our parents complain In vain, a path to make way For judgements to simmer and sink into our pores I never understood the back and forth Of why this, […]
It was the constant tiredness I had been feeling for months, the fear I felt for anyone who looked like me, and the hunger for hope that brought me to the Subway across the street from Kennedy Plaza. It certainly wasn’t the bland, cold, sandwich-like product I gnawed through while I waited for the parade […]
The following is based on a true story. In 1994, Fidel Castro allowed thousands of Cubans to leave the island on makeshift rafts. I was living on Grand Cayman, writing for the daily newspaper. With no place to stay, the over 1,200 rafters ended up in a dusty campsite in the middle of Grand Cayman, […]
My Mexican grandfather was born in Austin, Texas, on August 19, 1929. I know this because I have his birth certificate, issued by Travis County and the Texas State Board of Health. But no, rather: I have a scan of his birth certificate, one that exists in the public records and is downloadable if you […]
“Man is born free, yet everywhere he is caged.” Barbed wire, concrete walls, and guarded toll booths — even with friendly guards — confine people to the nation-state of their birth. But why? Borders are human inventions, arbitrary lines that separate us not only politically, but also socially and culturally. I’ve always believed that to […]
What a pleasure and an honor to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, alongside community treasure Marta Martinez, in this issue of Motif magazine. Poetry is an integral part of any truly vibrant cultural landscape, and the writers featured here are among the best contemporary poets writing today. It is heartening and important that poems be included, […]
To write a poem, they say, you must seek a beautiful moment, at least one a day, so I walk into some parking lot landscaping & hug a Japanese Maple—force the issue; play at fables & go deeper into the woods but the Twisted Orange Tree is spikey & low to the ground, so I […]
First Mercy I am holding in my hand an invisible poem. I can’t read it. I don’t know what it says. I want to make it visible. Want to see my wife in it. Want to see her at 22 before our daughter was born, before I developed the imagination to hurt another human […]
Strolling through The Find on 6 in Johnston, I came across a beautifully, intricately carved, circular, wooden plaque. It stared at me as I was staring at it, intrigued by its detail, and I picked it up for only $10! I was surprised; the price was a bargain and I just had to have it. […]