Can a fear of cockroaches lead to good poetry?
Miami-native Nathalie Saladrigas didn't think so when she submitted her ZipOde poem dedicated to her home on Miami's upper east side.
There's a roach
That haunts me
But
I hope he
Likes the sound of salsa while I cleanNathalie Saladrigas, 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
" I just thought it was so silly," Saladrigas told WLRN in an interview. "It was just like a silly thing that I wrote and I didn't think much of it until now."
She wrote the poem shortly after moving to her apartment in the 33138. A roach crawled its way across her curtain and then disappeared — an event akin to torture for Saladrigas.
"I hate roaches with a passion. I'm, like, very scared of roaches," she said.
In an effort to dispel the creature and any other vermin lying around the house, Saladrigas deep cleaned her apartment while reenacting a memory she has of her mother.
"When I was younger, she always put salsa not even just to dance, but to clean. My mom's Colombian, so she used to put Olimpica, which is like a [music station] in Colombia where it's a lot of salsa," she said.
"So then I put that music so I can get in the groove when I'm deep cleaning. Then I wrote the poem."
Listening to Latin music while cleaning the home is a shared experience among many Hispanic-Americans, something Saladrigas taps into with her writing.
She sees her growth as a person as a process of becoming her mother — a transformation some might recoil from, but Saladrigas embraces.
"It's an amazing thing. I'm very proud of where I'm from and of my city. I feel, like, honored, I guess," she said.
Poetry month runs through the end of April. Anyone can submit a Zip Ode poem online via WLRN.
