SOUTH FLORIDA POETRY JOURNAL
  • Poetry #37 May '25
  • Flash #37 May '25
  • Poetry #36 Feb '25
  • Flash #36 Feb '25
  • Latinx Poetry Month
  • The Maureen Seaton Prize
    • Maureen Seaton's Poetry
  • JUST SAY GAY
  • ABOUT
    • Archives >
      • Poetry #35 Nov '24
      • Flash #35 Nov '24
      • Poetry #34 Aug '24
      • Flash #34 Aug '24
      • POETRY #33 May '24
      • FLASH #33 May '24
      • POETRY #32 Feb '24
      • FLASH #32 Feb '24
      • POETRY #31 NOV '23
      • FLASH #31 NOV '23
      • Poetry #30 AUG '23
      • FLASH #30 AUG '23
      • Poetry #29 MAY '23
      • FLASH #29 May '23
      • Poetry #28 Feb '23
      • Flash #28 Feb '23
      • Poetry #27 - NOV 22
      • FLASH #27 - Nov 22
      • POETRY #26 - AUG 22
      • FLASH #26 - AUG 22
      • POETRY #25 - May 22
      • FLASH #25 - May 22
      • POETRY #24 - Feb 22
      • FLASH #24 - FEB 22
      • POETRY #23 - NOV 21
      • FLASH #23 - NOV 21
      • ISSUE 22 POETRY AUG 21 >
        • ISSUE 22 POETRY PG 2 AUG 21
      • ISSUE 22 FLASH AUG 21
      • ISSUE 21 POETRY MAY 2021
      • ISSUE 21 FLASH May 2021
      • ISSUE 20 FEB 2021
      • ISSUE 19 NOV 2020
      • ISSUE 18 AUG 2020
      • Issue 18 Pt. 2 of AUG 2020
      • ISSUE 17 MAY 2020
      • ISSUE 16 FEB 2020
      • ISSUE 15 NOV 2019
      • ISSUE 14 AUG 2019
      • ISSUE 13 MAY 2019
      • ISSUE 12 FEB 2019
      • ISSUE 11 NOV 2018
      • ISSUE 10 AUG 2018
      • ISSUE 9 MAY 2018
      • ISSUE 8 FEB 2018
      • ISSUE 7 NOV 2017
      • ISSUE 6 AUG 2017
      • ISSUE 5 MAY 2017
      • ISSUE 4 FEB 2017 >
        • Kostelanetz Visual Poem
      • ISSUE 3 NOV 2016
      • ISSUE 2 AUG 2016
      • ISSUE 1 MAY 2016
    • Calendar
    • Contributors >
      • Contributors 2016-19
    • MASTHEAD
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Tip Jar
  • Essays 2024-25
    • Essays 2022-23
    • Essays 2020-21
  • Interviews 2024-25
    • Interviews 2022-23
    • Interviews 2020-21
    • Interviews 2016-19
  • Reviews 2024-25
    • Reviews 2022-23
    • Reviews 2020-21
    • Reviews 2016-19
  • Special Section
    • A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOUTH FLORIDA POETRY
    • Adam Day
    • Album of Fences
    • Broadsides
    • Favorite Poems
    • Follow the Dancer
    • In Memoriam, John Arndt
    • Hargitai Humanism and
    • Kiss & Tell
    • Lennon McCartney
    • Neighborhood of Make-Believe
    • PBPF Ekphrastic Contest
    • Paradise
    • Patricia Whiting Memorial
    • Rystar
    • Surfside
    • Visit to the Rio Grande
    • WHAT FICTION ARE YOU READING?
    • SNAPS
    • SoFloPoJo Nominations >
      • Best of the Net Nominations
  • Video
    • Florida Center for the Book
    • MIAMI BOOK FAIR Interviews >
      • MBF2023 >
        • MBF2022
    • MIAMI BOOK FAIR POEMS
    • Palm Beach Poetry Festival
    • SFPJ Video 2024-25
    • SFPJ Video 2022-23
    • SFPJ Video 2016-21
  • Visual Arts 2024-25
    • Visual Arts 2022-23
    • Visual Arts 2020-21
    • Visual Arts 2016-19
  • WITCHERY
  • Chameleon Chimera Contributors
  • CHAMELEON CHIMERA
  • Poetry #37 May '25
  • Flash #37 May '25
  • Poetry #36 Feb '25
  • Flash #36 Feb '25
  • Latinx Poetry Month
  • The Maureen Seaton Prize
    • Maureen Seaton's Poetry
  • JUST SAY GAY
  • ABOUT
    • Archives >
      • Poetry #35 Nov '24
      • Flash #35 Nov '24
      • Poetry #34 Aug '24
      • Flash #34 Aug '24
      • POETRY #33 May '24
      • FLASH #33 May '24
      • POETRY #32 Feb '24
      • FLASH #32 Feb '24
      • POETRY #31 NOV '23
      • FLASH #31 NOV '23
      • Poetry #30 AUG '23
      • FLASH #30 AUG '23
      • Poetry #29 MAY '23
      • FLASH #29 May '23
      • Poetry #28 Feb '23
      • Flash #28 Feb '23
      • Poetry #27 - NOV 22
      • FLASH #27 - Nov 22
      • POETRY #26 - AUG 22
      • FLASH #26 - AUG 22
      • POETRY #25 - May 22
      • FLASH #25 - May 22
      • POETRY #24 - Feb 22
      • FLASH #24 - FEB 22
      • POETRY #23 - NOV 21
      • FLASH #23 - NOV 21
      • ISSUE 22 POETRY AUG 21 >
        • ISSUE 22 POETRY PG 2 AUG 21
      • ISSUE 22 FLASH AUG 21
      • ISSUE 21 POETRY MAY 2021
      • ISSUE 21 FLASH May 2021
      • ISSUE 20 FEB 2021
      • ISSUE 19 NOV 2020
      • ISSUE 18 AUG 2020
      • Issue 18 Pt. 2 of AUG 2020
      • ISSUE 17 MAY 2020
      • ISSUE 16 FEB 2020
      • ISSUE 15 NOV 2019
      • ISSUE 14 AUG 2019
      • ISSUE 13 MAY 2019
      • ISSUE 12 FEB 2019
      • ISSUE 11 NOV 2018
      • ISSUE 10 AUG 2018
      • ISSUE 9 MAY 2018
      • ISSUE 8 FEB 2018
      • ISSUE 7 NOV 2017
      • ISSUE 6 AUG 2017
      • ISSUE 5 MAY 2017
      • ISSUE 4 FEB 2017 >
        • Kostelanetz Visual Poem
      • ISSUE 3 NOV 2016
      • ISSUE 2 AUG 2016
      • ISSUE 1 MAY 2016
    • Calendar
    • Contributors >
      • Contributors 2016-19
    • MASTHEAD
    • Submission Guidelines
    • Tip Jar
  • Essays 2024-25
    • Essays 2022-23
    • Essays 2020-21
  • Interviews 2024-25
    • Interviews 2022-23
    • Interviews 2020-21
    • Interviews 2016-19
  • Reviews 2024-25
    • Reviews 2022-23
    • Reviews 2020-21
    • Reviews 2016-19
  • Special Section
    • A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOUTH FLORIDA POETRY
    • Adam Day
    • Album of Fences
    • Broadsides
    • Favorite Poems
    • Follow the Dancer
    • In Memoriam, John Arndt
    • Hargitai Humanism and
    • Kiss & Tell
    • Lennon McCartney
    • Neighborhood of Make-Believe
    • PBPF Ekphrastic Contest
    • Paradise
    • Patricia Whiting Memorial
    • Rystar
    • Surfside
    • Visit to the Rio Grande
    • WHAT FICTION ARE YOU READING?
    • SNAPS
    • SoFloPoJo Nominations >
      • Best of the Net Nominations
  • Video
    • Florida Center for the Book
    • MIAMI BOOK FAIR Interviews >
      • MBF2023 >
        • MBF2022
    • MIAMI BOOK FAIR POEMS
    • Palm Beach Poetry Festival
    • SFPJ Video 2024-25
    • SFPJ Video 2022-23
    • SFPJ Video 2016-21
  • Visual Arts 2024-25
    • Visual Arts 2022-23
    • Visual Arts 2020-21
    • Visual Arts 2016-19
  • WITCHERY
  • Chameleon Chimera Contributors
  • CHAMELEON CHIMERA
SOUTH FLORIDA POETRY JOURNAL
Oscar Fuentes / The Biscayne Poet      Miami       (Nicole Tallman)

Little Haiti (Bonswa Mesye O)


(part of a new animated film, and original music has been composed by Sydney Guillaume)



I  walk my dog Max every evening after work. I live off Biscayne Boulevard and 64th Street. 


We cross Biscayne and Max leads me all the way to the heart of Little Haiti, the Cultural Center on 54th street. 


On our way there I swear we can smell the aroma of all the different types of dinners being cooked. 


The scent is so rich and colorful. 


There are four houses where the families actually set their dinners out on their patios. 


Their dogs have even stopped barking at us because we’ve become familiar to them. 
Yesterday we actually started waving hello. 
We usually turn right back around after we arrive at the Little Haiti Cultural Center. 
That’s when our walk gets interesting. 


By the time we start to cross the neighborhood, we can smell coffee in the wind mixed with a touch of cigar smoke. 


Two of the houses that have dinner under the stars always bring out their conga drums and bongos while they sip on their coffee. 
We walk by slowly and listen to them sing together softly, in Creole. 


Max usually speeds up his walk after we pass the two music houses and he slows down at the boulevard. 


The motels with their neon lights flickering. The billboard of the Coppertone girl with the pooch in the distance. 


Everyone stops on red. Max pulls and we cross the street. They all drive on green. 
Max pulls me east all the way down to Biscayne Bay. 


We stop right by the water. We both sigh. I mean, how could we not be influenced by this.
SoFloPoJo - South Florida Poetry Journal   &  Witchery, the place for Epoems            Copyright © 2016-2025