If you regularly tune in to WLRN, South Florida’s NPR station, then you are familiar with ZipOdes, the zip code–inspired poetry project presented in partnership with the literary nonprofit organization O, Miami.
Since 2015, listeners across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties have been invited to submit place-based poems in five lines, with the number of words in each line determined by one’s zip code. (Have a zero? That line’s a wild card!) In celebration of the
tenth anniversary of ZipOdes, O, Miami recently released Literally Everyone’s Invited: An Ode to South Florida, composed of hundreds of poems and photographs by South Floridians, including more than 20 ZipOdes from Palm Beach County.
O, Miami’s executive director, Melody Santiago Cummings, explains that the idea for ZipOdes came about while looking at attendee data from the organization’s monthlong poetry festival, held annually in April. “Zip codes were constantly on our mind,” she says. “Our founder and executive director at the time, Scott Cunningham, [said] what if we created a zip code format to collect poetry? And it just blossomed from there.”
Cummings believes that the format—which has been replicated by other public radio stations—has proven popular because of its approachability and how participants can so easily make it their own. Caroline Cabrera, O, Miami’s artistic director, agrees.
“It’s like a little game, a little riddle,” Cabrera says. “It’s something you almost can’t help [but] do. Once you hear about the form, you start doing that counting in your head.”
Edited by Gesi Schilling and Sarah Trudgeon, Literally Everyone’s Invited exemplifies O, Miami’s mission of equitable civic publishing. “We aim to unite people through poetry and give residents or former residents—people who have a deep connection to this place—the opportunity to share in the narrative of the place,” says Cabrera.
“We’ve really enjoyed approaching everything we do, but specifically publishing, without boundaries,” continues Cummings, who explains that O, Miami often engages in moments of “pleasant poetry disruption,” to include publishing poems on sky banners, at gas pumps, and on bus shelters.
The organization offers a plethora of pleasant poetry disruptions during its O, Miami Poetry Festival. From April 1-30, it stages free and ticketed events, workshops, activations, and more across Miami-Dade County. On April 29, it will host its ZipOdes Finale, featuring dozens of ZipOdes collected during a concentrated call from mid-March to mid-April. Except for a few signature events, the festival’s programming is unique every year and themed to a variety of interests, from tattoos to trains. For 2026, expect a special quinceañera to mark the festival’s fifteenth year.
Local ZipOdes
Anonymous, Palm Beach
3 Family of 5.
3 Miles from home.
4 Call abuela every night.
6 We may miss our family there,
7 but that’s alright, because we’re okay here.
Shawn Zylberberg, Palm Beach
3 Old people everywhere,
3 Dinner at five,
4 I am still young,
4 Learning life’s lessons early,
6 Hungover on bagels, blintzes, and Manischewitz
Lenny DellaRocca, Palm Beach
3 Downtown Delray’s awash
3 with faces, bodies
4 in motion and glitz
4 We rumba in neon
5 Ain’t nothing better than this
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