Love or hate Miami, the subject inspired so many beautiful, thoughtful and sometimes even funny verses for our "That's So Miami" project. It was impossible for us to pick the best. So we asked you to do it!
Based on your online votes, here are the five category winners and their poems:
Best Ode to Miami Spanglish - Lauren Fernandez, Miami
Exciting and Extravagant.
Guajiros in Bentleys.
Tostones and Champagne.
That’s so Miami.
Best Ode to Miami Food - Cristina Rodriguez, Miami
Thanksgiving in Miami
My cousin brought the sweet potatoes,
my aunt brought the congri,
my brother brought the yuca
and my uncle the black beans.
There also was a turkey
the best I have ever done
the reason being that it almost taste like pork.
But this carbohydrate feast waste not the biggest thing
the main ingredient was
the love of all involved in it.
That's so Miami.
Best Ode to Miami Traffic - Marcus Cade, Miami Shores
Exit ramp back up,
Losers wait; I cut in front -
That's so Miami
Best Ode to Miami's Flaws - Dylann Turffs, Coral Gables
February newspaper says
on-the-job cops
are ignoring emergencies
to drink cortaditos & Florida sun
today on the way home
I passed a car accident
white sedan curved around pole
white van engine folded in
nearby a detective
leans back & sucks a cigar
I think to myself: at least he showed up
That's so Miami.
Best Ode to Miami - Arlo Haskell, Key West
That’s so Miami can see
its way from the bottom
of the bay to crawl across
the streets,” she said,
when I asked
about the lights
that run the edge
of the swamps down west.
“But so much light
makes adjacent darkness
darker,” I said. “That’s
right,” she said. “And vice
versa. Blindness brought
by surfeit of light
is my kind of
night. Stars scrape
it like gravel
in knees and elbows,
skitter across it like storm-
tossed flying fish
on the sand.”
The prize for the Best Ode to Miami was provided by The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Betsy-South Beach. Thanks also to the Betsy for the gift bags awarded to the winners for Best Ode to Miami Traffic, Best Ode to Miami Food, Best Ode to Miami Spanglish and Best Ode to Miami's Flaws.
