Waking up screaming From dreaming to a black and white screen. Covering life, or so it seems. I flit like a ghost and those that used to care the most are free from my scream, bursting free at the seam. Every dream just feels so real. And the Devil cackles As he reaps his deal. […]
The Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading is returning for its 31st consecutive year, to begin black history month. The annual free event will celebrate the powerful work of poet Langston Hughes with community poetry readings as well as live jazz music by Emmanuel Escobar and Avi David, as well as a presentation by guest speaker […]
I cannot wait for my days of purple.As it stands,my empty womb and Ihave received detailed instructionsto leave the five cats with my best friendto tan naked in Ibiza.With breasts and hips that are a little too sexy,not correctly womanly enough,to care about this country’s future,I must party ‘till despair in Cyreneuntil I’m finally humble […]
Hate laced lead projectiles pierce through a peaceful Providence. A rush to usher innocents towards shuttered confinements that smell of fear. Ivy League opulence left tarnished by trauma. A city in mourning. A community canvassed. A campus locked down. An inexhaustible entourage of law enforcement enveloping the East Side. A grisly demise for a miniscule […]
Saturday, December 13th, 2025 Their iron gates were open to all who shared the spirit of creativity, and to those whose minds yearned for brand new thoughts to challenge their hearts.The green grass swayed happily as pedestrians from all over the city of Providence walked with their dogs, or hand-in-hand with friends or lovers, speaking […]
The Fox Are you quite certain that you’re safe in your bedroom? Were you not warned about the fox that’s been let loose from the zoo and prowls the hills of this city? Did you not see that he already passed your house? How did you not notice his paws resting on the window as […]
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, […]
Patricia McAlpine is a poet residing in Burrillville, RI. She has a BS in English from Northeastern University and has participated in several writing workshops and was coordinator of the Galway Kinnell Poetry Contest/Festival in Pawtucket, RI. Her poems have appeared in several anthologies, including: Crosswinds Summer 2024, Notable Works publication, “Voices of the Earth […]
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 […]