Dr. Rhyner’s Personal Narrative students will host a series of poetry pop-ups designed to get you writing about your perception of Miami. Look out for their fun activities every Tuesday during lunch. Read below for writing prompts and inspiration related to each pop-up!

Submit Your Poetry

Colors of the City

Designed and Presented by: Lexi Barna, Cianna Vengoechea Schiff, Alex Kazumoff

Reflection: The city of Miami is known for its color and vibrancy, where cultures blend together like paint on a canvas. From pastel buildings in South Beach to the bold colors in Calle Ocho, the city's streets tell stories through colors. This week, we aim to celebrate the unique shades of what we call our home by capturing the neon hues of nightlife, the turquoise popping through in Biscayne Bay, and the golden warmth of the sun we see daily. Through poetry, we explore how colors shape our experiences and reflect Miami’s spirit.

Pop-Up Activity: During Lunchtime in the breezeway stop by our table and draw up to three paint chips from a selection, then use the color names as inspiration for a short poem about Miami. Write your poem on a provided sheet of paper. When you finish, submit it online to this website through the QR code. Once you finish your poem, attach your paint chips to the community peacock to make it as colorful as our beautiful city is.

Prompt: What colors are Miami to you?

Write a short poem using color imagery or symbolism to represent Miami. Does Miami reflect sunset oranges or ocean blues for you? Does the city glow in pinks and purples? Use your poem to paint the city in the shades that make it feel like home to you.

Inspiration Poem:

Sonnet on Blue

by John Keats

Blue! ‘Tis the life of heaven,–the domain

Of Cynthia,–the wide palace of the sun,–

The tent of Hesperus and all his train,–

The bosomer of clouds, gold, grey and dun.

Blue! ‘Tis the life of waters–ocean

And all its vassal streams: pools numberless

May rage, and foam, and fret, but never can

Subside if not to dark-blue nativeness.

Blue! gentle cousin of the forest green,

Married to green in all the sweetest flowers,

Forget-me-not,–the blue-bell,–and, that queen

Of secrecy, the violet: what strange powers

Hast thou, as a mere shadow! But how great,

When in an Eye thou art alive with fate!

RE Community - Poems of the Week

Just Another Drive Back from Practice

by Miguel Kumar

Driving over the bridge,

Intense sonder keeps me busy,

As I stare up at the guava jelly-infused sunset,

And think how sad that a part of me wants to leave,

How awful that I've had enough of this,

How brutal the truth that I'm moving away.

Driving over the bridge,

In horrible routine,

I know nothing more than this lavender clouded sky,

And yet I assume there is something more to be had

In corners of the world without guava and lavender to compare the sky to,

Without the things I know and love to love.

Driving over the bridge,

Intense sonder keeps me busy,

As I stare up to colors that can only exist here,

And secretly hope I'll be back.

Metro Rail Transfer 6:33 AM

by Dr. Emily Grace - Professional Community

soot splashed concrete

grey and dark

spray-paint letters

white and bubbles

well trodden tile

rust and slick

fingerless gloves

neon and sweat-filled

far away giants

glimmer and silver

the night fades

purple and distant

celestial rays

yellow and orange

look at the sky

exhale

pink

Nacer

by Ana Gonzalez ‘26

Me sumerjo en el encanto,/

La penumbra grisosa de la luna/

Nunca verá el sol/

Y yo nunca mi ternura/

Miras el vaivén del mar/

Frente al aire salubre que prometí/

Escalofríos frente a las olas,/

Despeinan a todos menos a ti,/

Cuantos han de llegar,/

Al tan humano pensamiento,/

Cuantos no rebozaron,/

En el eterno sufrimiento,/

Que abra los ojos el alma de tu ser! /

Que ardan mis córneas con furor infernal,/

Que alumbres mi vida aunque sea banal,/

Y que sepas al menos dos veces nacer.

Roots and Routes

Designed and Presented by: Dieter Manstein, Adaya Yang, Bea Lindemann, Kayra Serpenguzel

Reflection: Miami is a city shaped by movement: those who have arrived, left and who are still finding their place. Our journeys, whether personal or passed down through generations, define how we see this city and ourselves within it. The Roots and Routes pop-up allows students to pause and reflect on where they come from and where they’re headed. Through poetry, students can explore themes of migration, identity and belonging, capturing the emotions of transition and homecoming. Each poem is a glimpse into the diverse experiences that make up the fabric of Miami, reminding us that while our routes may differ, our roots connect us in unexpected ways.

Pop-Up Activity/ Prompt: Each journey has a story. Think about your own path or your family’s journey to Miami. How did you come to live here? Is this city your home, or just a stop along the way? At this pop-up write a short poem reflecting on your roots and the route you took to get there. Use imagery, emotions and memories to bring your journey to life. Your poem can be as short as six words or as long as you’d like, what matters is the story you tell. Add your poem to our collection board and see how our different stories weave together to create the larger narrative of Miami.

Inspiration Poem:

Como Tú

Como Tú by Richard Blanco

Como tú, I question history’s blur in my eyes

each time I face a mirror. Like a mirror, I gaze

into my palm a wrinkled map I still can’t read,

My lifeline an unnamed road I can’t find, can’t

trace back to the fork in my parents’ trek

that cradled me here. Como tú, I woke up to

this dream of a country I didn’t choose, that

didn’t choose me—trapped in the nightmare

of its hateful glares. Como tú, I’m also from

the lakes and farms, waterfalls and prairies

of another country I can’t fully claim either.

Como tú, I am either a mirage living among

these faces and streets that raised me here,

or I’m nothing, a memory forgotten by all

I was taken from and can’t return to again.

Like memory, at times I wish I could erase

the music of my name in Spanish, at times

I cherish it, and despise my other syllables

clashing in English. Como tú, I want to speak

of myself in two languages at once. Despite

my tongues, no word defines me. Like words,

I read my footprints like my past, erased by

waves of circumstance, my future uncertain

as wind. Like the wind, como tú, I carry songs,

howls, whispers, thunder’s growl. Like thunder,

I’m a foreign-borne cloud that’s drifted here,

I’m lightning, and the balm of rain. Como tú,

our blood rains for the dirty thirst of this land.

Like thirst, like hunger, we ache with the need

to save ourselves, and our country from itself.

RE Community Poems of the Week

Untitled

by Vicky Pinilla ‘25

Two weeks in, the city's pulse hums low,

I trace the paths I’ve walked, though they blur with time.

Routes unspoken, roots unseen,

A map of places I’ve been—

And places still to go.

Miami’s heart beats beneath my feet,

In streets that twist and wind,

Tangled roots in the sand,

Whispers of who I am,

Where I’ve been, and what I’ll find.

Mi Ninera

by Eric Lefebvre - Professional Community

Born and raised in the county of Dade.

A blonde bundle of joy loaded into the Ford Fairmont and driven across the canal.

Dropped off at a small apartment off the Palmetto.

Hueles a pan?

The furniture is covered in plastic.

The apartment is spotless.

Arroz con pollo hecho con cerveza.

Natilla filling empty margarin containers with lots of cinnamon on top.

There is so much love in such a small place.

So many pictures of my tiny face.

Gracias por el carino Cuca.

Roots in the Wind

by Sabine Wolfensberger ' 27

Every winter,

I’d come to Miami chasing wind—

trading snow boots for bare feet,

city noise for the hush of open water.

I came to sail.

Following a compass always pointing south

to saltwater and sailcloth.

I used to follow the wind

like a bird with two homes—

summers sailing up north,

winters chasing warmth to Miami.

Two coastlines,

two rhythms,

one passion.

But the water whispered more each year.

The city waited,

sun-baked and salt-sweet,

until one winter,

I stayed.

Now, I sail year-round—

no need to pack up,

no waiting for the thaw.

The bay is always calling.

The breeze doesn’t sleep.

My roots are soft—

not buried in soil,

but in the bay’s breath,

in the names of the currents,

in the calluses on my palms

from lines pulled tight

in the golden hours.

I came for the wind—

I stayed for the stillness

that only sailing brings.

And somewhere between

the routes I took

and the sails I raised,

I found

I belonged.

Currents and Connections

Designed and Presented by: Gabi Pasos, Chloe Coulson , Harrison Lamnin

Reflection: Miami is a city shaped by movement—its waters flow with tides, its skyline grows with innovation, and its people bring together histories, cultures, and ideas from all over the world. Our geography, from the Everglades to the sunny beaches, constantly shifts and adapts, just as our society faces evolving challenges and triumphs. This week, we explore how our city’s natural and social landscapes intersect, and how our voices can leave a lasting message for the Miami of the future.

Pop-Up Activity: We are going to provide a word bank of words relating to the theme Miami. Students will write a few lines of a poem using 2-3 words and place them in the small bottles. In addition, students will also have the opportunity to write out a full poem for submission to our website.

Prompt: Consider Miami: its beaches, bays, and skyscrapers, our varied ideas about current issues which impact us directly. Write a poem using juxtaposition to express your feelings about the intersections in Miami both geographical and/or socio-political which play out in our city. You should include at least one word from the word bank in your poem.

Inspiration Poem:

Miami

By Ted Greenwald

for Ed. Baynard

buildings blend

into the sky the work

goes on

from where we left off

and consciousness, by rights,

is doors and windows

a spritz of color

in this life

is what we can expect

if we can expect anything

and a breeze or two

a quiet day a little sun

that 5-letter word "money"

relying on no one

for pleasure

than the weather and the then

discovered leisure

to lean a little

into more than can be expected...

RE Community Poems of the Week

Jenny Carson - Professional Community

Miami.

Under water.

This was once

A metropolis

Now it is Atlantis.

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Ephemeral Reaction

Nelson Manstein ‘26

In our first glance

All movement ceased.

The nucleons, static,

Your beauty etched.

When from afar

The mighty force returned,

Though deconstructed

Your grace still reigned.

Noble and calm,

Anxiously stable,

Your pensive nature,

All reactions quenched.

Further away

From this inner world,

A macrocosm

Made them reflect.

You are the Goddess,

A Nereid, they said.

She, who in the Universe

Forged dance ensembles

Of smalls, femtos, gigas,

Amongst trillions of spheres

Of Matter, Gas, Ice.

All the while Chronos

Searching a formula

To conceive of you:

Galatea, the Creator

Of Love, Life, and all that is Unknown.

Inspired by 'Galatea of the Spheres' by Salvador Dali, 1952

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Garoe del Coso ‘27

“Rivers of Stone That Connect U.S.”

The I-95

Roads like veins or roots, breathing

Connected, alive