Little Havana resident's ode to her abuela lands on Miami billboard

A poem by Little Havana resident Luz Rossy was chosen from more than 1,500 submissions to be featured on a downtown Miami billboard.

What's happening: Rossy's poem is an homage to her grandmother, who's also named Luz, and can be seen on a billboard across from the Miami-Dade Arena, now the Kaseya Center, through April 23.

• ​​Rossy is a graduate of Florida International University and a page at Westchester Regional Library.

Context: Rossy's poem was submitted to the "[Your poem here]" campaign, put on by poetry festival O, Miami and WLRN Public Media.

• Poets were encouraged to celebrate the idea of home and use the "Zip Ode" format — with the submitter's ZIP code determining how many words would be in each line of the poem.

What they're saying: "We loved Luz's poem because we could see the love she has for her corner of the world and how the importance of family shapes so much of our lives," said Melissa Gomez, communications director for O, Miami.

What's ahead: People can submit "Zip Odes" through the end of April, which is National Poetry Month.

• Each week, 10 poems will be highlighted and their authors will be invited to a Zip Odes finale at Vizcaya Late on April 26.
• Other poetry events are ongoing throughout Miami-Dade this month.

Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Rossy has one grandmother named Luz, not two as the poetry festival originally indicated.