Stay Gold! Poetry in Pajamas! O, Miami Poetry Festival 2019

April 04, 2019
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#StayGold at Robert Is Here
#StayGold at Robert Is Here

Fruit stickers! Pastelito wrappers! In a papaya field! Discover poems in the most unexpected places all month as part of the O, Miami Poetry Festival. Here are some of this year’s food and drink-themed projects. For full details, visit omiami.org.

#StayGold at Robert Is Here

The iconic South Dade fruit stand, Robert Is Here, has partnered with O, Miami on previous projects (look in the parking lot for Randy Burman’s “Thou Shall Not Yield” Department of Poetry Works Sign from the 2014 festival). But this one is a big one. STAY GOLD, their first-ever permanent sculpture, is 12 ft x 40 ft work by Miami-based artist Jessy Nite in guava-colored pink, erected in the middle of their field populated by papayas and sunflowers. The family business at the corner of SW 344 St. and 192 Avenue is more than a destination for its tropical fruit shakes and products, it’s the gateway to Everglades National Park and other attractions.

Artist Jessy Nite with another edible creation of hers
Jessy Nite, O, Miamis Melody Santiago Cummings, Heather Moehling from Robert Is Here
Photo 1: Artist Jessy Nite with another edible creation of hers
Photo 2: Jessy Nite, O, Miamis Melody Santiago Cummings, Heather Moehling from Robert Is Here

“When they came to us with the idea, we thought it would be a cool way to show off South Dade and the Everglades,” says Heather Moehling of Robert is Here. “And art is a big thing with us in the way we design and display our fruit. We love to paint the world with fruit!”

To artist Jessy Nite, the iconic fruit stand is the perfect place for her artwork. “It’s really important to what South Dade is,” she says. “We invite the community here."

StayGold smoothie
Poem on a caimito
Photo 1: StayGold smoothie
Photo 2: Poem on a caimito

Visitors can do more than see and touch the project – they can taste it, too. Robert Is Here created the StayGold smoothie – a combination of mango, papaya, passion fruit, strawberry and honey – “to really encapsulate the project,” says Moehling.

This isn't the only poetry project Robert Is Here is participating in. Look for poetry fruit stickers on some of their tropical fruits, courtesy of O, Miami.

Poetry In Pajamas

Put on your pajamas and join us for a fabulous evening of poetry under the stars at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden. Brothers Sam, 10, and Simon, 7, will lead the second Poetry in Pajamas on Friday, April 12 from 6-8:30.
 

Poetry in Pajamas 2018
Poetry in Pajamas 2018. Photo by Michael Todd

Staged in a dreamy canopy bed at the enchanted Miami Beach Botanical Garden, Poetry in Pajamas is an open mic for children of all ages to recite poetry in their pajamas. There’s live music from Afrobeta, treats from Cao Chocolates, cereal and milk from Edible South Florida, crepes from the Crepemaker, something for grownups to drink, kid entrepreneurs and activities too.

Sam and Simon lead Poetry in Pajamas
Fun at 2018 Poetry in Pajamas
Photo 1: Sam and Simon lead Poetry in Pajamas
Photo 2: Fun at 2018 Poetry in Pajamas

Poetry in Pajamas is free but sign up here.

Here are some edible highlights of O, Miami this month:


Chiquita Poems

When? All April
Find a poem on a passionfruit! Look in your market’s produce section for these colorful stickers with poems on them.


¿Para Llevar O Para Tomar Aquí?

When? All April
When you pick up pastelitos for the office, pay attention to the bilingual thought starters on the wax paper they’re wrapped in. To go or to read here?

Poetry fruit stickers
Pastelito paper
Photo 1: Poetry fruit stickers
Photo 2: Pastelito paper

Poet in Decadence at Gramps, Wynwood

When? All April
The last seat at the bar is reserved for a poet-in-decadence, who gets a beer for every poem she or he writes on a cocktail napkin.


Sangam Garden + Ishio Hutchinson

When? April 20
Enjoy a five-course plant-based South Indian dinner with poet Ishio Hutchinson at Naomi’s Garden Restaurant and Lounge.


Kendall Sidewalks

When? Now
Fragments of local poems are imprinted in concrete, like this one off Bird Road and SW 149 Ave.:

Kendall Soccer Park,
Indian Hammocks Park...
I
could start working out, pero coming back home
Abuelita tiene tamales.
– Javmar Perez-Contreras