In parts of South Florida, it’s not rush hour or construction that brings traffic to a halt — it’s peacocks.
The large, colorful birds, which are protected by law, have become both a spectacle and a nuisance. They are known for strutting across streets, damaging property and unleashing their piercing calls.
Nick Vagnoni is a resident of the Village of El Portal — a designated bird sanctuary in Miami-Dade County — and, for him, the birds have become a daily part of life.
“When you stop for a peacock, they think you have reached your final destination and you’ve parked your car,” Vagnoni said. “So you’ll hear cars honking and then you’ll hear the peacocks honking back.”
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The encounters were the inspiration for Vagnoni’s first ZipOde in 2015. He wrote the poem during the inaugural year of O, Miami’s and WLRN’s ZipOde project a decade ago. His zip code is 33138.
📍 What is a ZipOde? They're five line poems based on where you live, with each number of your zip code determining the number of words in that line.
📥 Submit a poem at wlrn.org/zipodes. Chosen poems will be presented at our ZipOdes finale at Vizcaya Museums and Gardens
Peacock roadblock peacock
roadblock peacock roadblock
peacock
roadblock peacock roadblock
peacock roadblock peacock roadblock peacock roadblock peacock roadblock
To Vagnoni both Miami and Key West, where he has a home, are poetic places.
"I think that there's always the potential for some sort of moment of awe, of something that will surprise you. Whether it's in Key West, especially the ocean or the clouds, the size of the sky. And I think that [happens] in Miami as well — and at a much larger scale," he said.
Vagnoni has also written two poems inspired by his trips to Key West, zip code 33040.
I never stop
on the drive
down to my home.
Bridge after bridge
after bridge until
there’s just the ocean
WLRN’s Ammy Sanchez spoke with Vagnoni about the ZipOdes he’s crafted over the years and the stories behind them.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
WLRN: Tell me more about the ZipOde that you wrote about peacocks and roadblocks. What happened there?
VAGNONI: I wrote that when I had first moved to El Portal in [2014-2015]. One of the first things we noticed when we moved to the neighborhood was that there are lots of peacocks and they stop traffic all the time. They're protected there. It's a bird sanctuary, so you'll often hear cars honking at them to get out of the road. And what I've learned from living there is that when you stop for a peacock, they think that you have reached your final destination and you've parked your car. So they tend to like stop lots of traffic. So you'll hear cars honking and then you'll hear the peacocks honking back at the cars.
Tell me a little bit more about: ‘I never stop on the drive down to my home.’
I grew up in Key West and my family is still there and I visit often and try to stop as little as possible just to get home and see them. So that's kind of what I thought of in the drive from Miami to Key West, just trying to get down there as quickly as possible to get back home.
Why was this something that you chose to write about?
Part of it is the form of the poem. I think with the ZipOde and thinking about 33040, you have those zeros in there. So there's all these kind of little, little gaps and it made me kind of think about all the little islands you cross over. I guess it relates to the other ZipOde too, about the bridges. It just made me think of what home is like. And … just made me think of the drive and wanting to get down there quickly.
What would you say makes Miami and Key West unique [places] for poetry?
I think that there's always the potential for some sort of moment of awe, of something that will surprise you. Whether it's in Key West, especially the ocean or the clouds, the size of the sky. And I think that [happens] in Miami as well — and at a much larger scale. Sometimes Miami feels like a giant version of Key West to me, just based on the communities and the way the neighborhoods look, sometimes, and the closeness to the ocean and the flora.
So I think these poems are a way to kind of get at that. To me, they kind of feel similar to haiku, these tiny little poems. That's one of the things that I really appreciate about O, Miami's idea to have the ZipOde … kind of like the haiku, it does a lot in a tiny little space. And it has these moments of awe or surprise, or just like aha moments.
If you want to submit your own ZipOde, you can find the submissions page here.
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