“Self-Portrait as the ‘i’ in Florida” is the latest collection of poems by former Miami resident and O, Miami founder P. Scott Cunningham.
He currently resides in Oak Park, just outside of Chicago. The poems detail life in Florida and South Florida, giving longtime residents a familiar experience and newcomers a glimpse into regional life.
He lived in Miami for over two decades and in South Florida for even longer because he grew up in Boca Raton.
“ The main thing was that I've read a lot of writing about Florida from people who are not from Florida that I don’t think captures it very well, and I've read even fewer things that I think celebrate Miami and South Florida as a place worthy of celebration,” he said.
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Cunningham wrote the book over seven years, writing poems in Florida after he and his family moved here. There are many themes throughout it, with Florida being the overarching one.
The title of the book is the title of a poem as well. It’s part of a series with two other poems titled “Self-Portrait as the ‘flo’ in Florida” and “Self-Portrait as the 'duh' in Florida”. He titled them after how he pronounces Florida.
The trio of poems covers different topics, but just like everything else in the book, they address the tension between the actual Florida and the “idealized” Florida that newer residents may picture before moving to the state.
“ There are millions and millions of dollars that Florida itself spends on marketing the idealized Florida, so when people come here, it's not like they've made this narrative up,” he said. “ As for people who live here, I think Florida rappers say it best: There's South Beach and then you go across the causeway, and there's the real Miami.”
Another prominent topic is fatherhood. Cunningham takes the reader through moments with his children when they’re infants, then young children and right back to their infancy.
Fatherhood runs parallel to his family's move to Chicago. As he sees change in South Florida and in his surroundings, he also sees his children growing up and changing. He said the same way you see your surroundings change and fight for them to stay how they were, parents experience the same as their kids grow up, and they wish they could keep a younger version of them.
“ I wanted to document the Miami I love, but I also wanted to document these kids at these particular ages … I would say right now I'm mostly writing fatherhood poems, 'cause there's just so much that I don't want to forget and I don't wanna lose the feeling of,” he said. “ I know that, like Miami, they will not be the same in five years, and it's easier to forget what the other versions of them look like.”
With this new release, Scott wants to immortalize the Miami and the region that longtime residents know, and he wants newcomers to realize it’s a complex place worthy of being loved and appreciated.
“Self-Portrait as the ‘i’ in Florida” goes on sale Tuesday, April 7.
