Now that national poetry month has ended, O, Miami has collaborated with Apple Maps to release a list of 'the most poetic places in Miami' to keep people inspired.
WLRN’s reporter Gerard Albert III recently toured some of those spaces with Melissa Gomez, O, Miami's communications director. O, Miami is a local non-profit that promotes the power of poetry.
One popular spot that pops up on the Apple Maps list is Jose Marti Park in East Little Havana. The park sits along the Miami river.
"As we're talking, there's a line of schoolchildren that are coming from across the street and there's a boat passing with what I assume is a photoshoot," Gomez said as music blasted from a boat's speakers. "It's a really interesting middle ground. The highlight of the Miami whimsical things. Both narratives are happening at the same time."
The park been the site of many O, Miami events — including the Last Ride of José Martí, the Cuban poet and revered revolutionary leader.
“It's always beautiful to see. People really have odes to this park and to this place and to José Martí,” Gomez told WLRN.
READ MORE: Favorite Zip Odes: Poems about cafecito, heat, language and I-95 traffic
The organization hired an actor to ride on horseback from the Versailles Cuban restaurant to the park, handing out roses and reciting poetry on the way.
The next spot was in Brownsville — a historically Black neighborhood in Miami.
The Blue Station Stones are an installation by sculptural artist Beverly Buchanan. Eighteen large blue stones almost blend into the ferns and oaks that surround them.
The American novelist Alice Walker wrote a poem for Buchanan after she died. It's printed on a sign in front of those stones.
“How do we make new and restorative of soul the old pain? How do we learn to carry with grace and humor all that has happened to us?” the sign reads.
The rest of the map includes popular spots like Books and Books in Coral Gables and Libreri Mapou in Little Haiti. It also lists more underground shops like Bookleggers and Dale Zine.
But the list isn't meant to be definitive. O, Miami wants people to think that wherever they’re at in the Magic City, something poetic is close by.
