i. ShearEighteen spans, massive Trembling softlySoothing and rocking, murmuringForgetfulness, abnegating the airThe space beneath The commuters hung aloft Steel and concrete, manmadePiles driven deep, riverbed anchorsTowering to braceHis vertebraeCooling drops condensing Salt air drifting in From estuary, cove and inletSoothe his pebbled skinHis task is far from easyA minor Atlas bearing Stress and strain—incalculable! No […]
A poet, a comedian, and a storyteller walk into a bar… it sounds like the beginning of a joke, but on Tuesday, April 9, it was a beautiful reality manifested via Motif’s second annual RI Spoken Awards. Nominees and members of the spoken word community alike gathered at Myrtle in East Providence, which was the […]
You can determine the shape of snowflakes by surrounding conditions, the symmetry of dust particles frozen into crystals that sprout arms and legs different directions off one central core based on temperature. Each snowflake follows a different path from sky to ground, atmosphere that shapes it unique as prism, needle, or lace. A child crafts […]
The Langston Hughes Community Poetry Reading is about more than poetry, and more than Langston Hughes – it is about the impact each force has had, and continues to have, on the “Beloved Community” around us. Headquartered in Rhode Island because of the fateful migration of the famed Harlem poet’s work, papers and legacy to […]
Motif put out an open call for visual artists and poets to submit work for an experimental new event: Pics & Poets. Artists and poets were randomly paired. Each participant had two weeks to create a new piece inspired by their partner’s original submission. Creativity ensued. For one night only, the work was displayed at […]
For many years, death wasn’t something poet Jeff Danielian had to face, but in recent years he has experienced multiple losses and found himself dealing with situations he had only seen others endure. His latest publication, UNDONE, shows a writer who has evolved (for better or worse) and is dealing with the challenges of that […]
I’ve never understoodthe glamorization of youth,the glorification ofthe unfinished brain,When every yearstretches itself out,longer than a decade feelsjust a decade or two later.I’ve never understoodthe nostalgia fornot knowing howyour life will turn out,In those most precarious times,when just about everythingteeters on going horribly wrong.I can’t contend with a yearningfor an era when“the rest of one’s […]
Visit this post to see the 2023 entries! When: Thursday, November 9, 6 – 9pm (Gallery Show) Where: WaterFire Arts Center, 475 Valley St, PVD Why: Exchange the submitted work of visual artists and poets as generative prompts to make work inspired by one another. How: The Pics and Poets Project randomly matches 2D artists […]
Photo: Thomas Cizauskas. Growing up outside of Boston, Ryk McIntyre first thought about becoming a poet during high school when he read Anne Sexton’s The Awful Rowing Towards God. McIntyre jokes that he became a poet the “day the voices in my head formed the theater company.” Despite not receiving a formal college level education […]
I woke up today With my emotions swaying a different way. The sun is shining but the shadows are in the way. How can I see the sky of blue when my eyes are always gray? How can I look forward to tomorrow when yesterday is always today? How can I stop the tears When […]