Luz Rossy never thought her poetry would really go anywhere. Now it's plastered on a billboard at a busy downtown street corner for all of Miami to see.
Rossy is one of scores of South Floridians who have written a Zip Ode this year — a five line poem inspired by their zip code. The numbers in your zip code determine how many words you get to work with.
When the Little Havana resident sat down to write a poem about the place she calls home, she decided to write about her abuela.
Rossy’s piece was chosen from more than 1,500 poems to be published on a billboard in downtown Miami, as part of the annual O, Miami poetry festival.
The billboard at the corner of NE 8th Street and Biscayne Boulevard is splashed in gold, with white flowers and black text reading the zip code 33125 and the words:
My name came
from my abuela
and
she said
we can share it forever.
Rossy headed downtown this week to see the billboard for the first time.
“It looks perfect,” she said. “It’s baffling that I was even able to do this. Because again I write so much stuff that I never really have it in my mind that it's gonna be big someday … or be anywhere someday. But seeing something like a dream come true like this … I couldn't even put it into words honestly.”
Rossy said she submitted her work to O, Miami on a whim, at the encouragement of a coworker, never thinking it would catch on.
But here’s something about the Zip Ode — place-based, hyperlocal — that speaks to Rossy. She loves "the honor it gives to Miami."
“It taps into our imagination," she said. "And in Miami, there's nothing but imagination no matter where you go.”
Rossy isn’t new to writing poetry — though she hasn’t always considered herself a poet. But spreading the love of the written word is something of a calling for her. She works at the wellness center at the Westchester Regional Library, where she recently launched a library poetry society.
“I think, too often, we see the idea of a poet being a certain type of person. Like you have to be like William Shakespeare to be considered a poet. And honestly, that's not true at all,” she said. “Everyone has their own identity and their own poem in them.”
It was at the Westchester library that Rossy wrote the poem about her abuela.
“I just remember I was typing at the computer and I saw my name,” she said. “And I was like, ‘Oh, Luz’. And then I remembered my zip code 33125 and I was like … let me try something…”
And the other Luz was just as excited about making it onto the billboard, Rossy said.
“Oh, she was so honored," Rossy said. "She was proud. Which touched me as well, because she’s my grandma so I would love her to feel happy of something I wrote about her. I can't even express how honored I am to be named after her.”
A Miami story of struggle
Raised in the town of Cevicos in the Dominican Republic, Rossy said her abuela had to struggle in Miami. It didn’t always feel like home.
“She had gone through so much having come from the Dominican Republic,” Rossy said, “and she came to Miami with all these kids, working hard…”
Miami was much more hostile to Spanish speakers back then. In 1980, Dade County passed an English language-only ordinance — barring the use of any other language in official government business.
“It's not easy to do what she had to do to survive in a place where Spanish wasn't the main language … and having to find work and make sure all her daughters are going to school and they're fed and everything,” Rossy said. “It wasn't easy for her. And she's still standing today as strong as she is. So I respect her so much.”
A generation later, her abuela’s struggle is the story of Miami — a story worth writing about. And Rossy can be the one to tell it.
“In my heart, I never felt like a poet,” she said. “It wasn't til I wrote more … where I was like, 'Ok, I can feel the poetry now in me.' I can feel it flow out of me to the point where I'm like, 'I'm definitely a poet.'
"Maybe I can't say 100% … but there'll be times where I'll write something down and be like, 'Wow, that sounds really nice for a poem.' And then I'd have to scramble for a piece of paper to write it down," she said. "And it's those little moments there, I'm like, 'That's a poet.'”
To other South Floridians out there who may not think they’re worthy of being called a poet, Rossy says — don’t sweat it. Just keep writing.
“Even if the line comes into your head, write it down. And I assure you later on, you'll look at it and be like, 'Oh, yeah, that's the one,'” she said. “You'd be surprised how many little lines can help you form just an absolutely beautiful poem.”
Rossy and other selected poets will get the chance to read their work out loud before a live audience at the Zip Odes Finale event on April 26 at the Vizcaya Museum & Gardens.
For more information on how to write and submit a Zip Ode, click here. Submit your work by April 20, 2023 to be considered for the finale reading.
IF YOU GO
WHAT: Zip Odes Finale Reading
WHEN: Wednesday April 26, 2023 6-9 p.m.
WHERE: Vizcaya Museum & Gardens
RVSP: click here
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the origin of the English language-only ordinance. It was passed by voters through a referendum, not by the Dade County Commission.
