Where Words Find a Home: Poetry in the Park Returns

Published on May 01, 2026

By: Jeniffer Viscarra, Vice Mayor

On the last Sunday of April, Sunny Isles Beach residents and friends gathered to celebrate National Poetry Month at our second annual Poetry in the Park event. Nestled in the serene Meditation Garden, guests took a moment to pause and appreciate poetry’s unique ability to express what often remains unspoken. There’s something powerful about hearing words come alive—about recognizing your own thoughts and emotions reflected through another’s voice. As Sandra Cisneros writes, poetry can be “a refuge from the mundane, an invitation to the sacred.” When talented local poets extend that invitation, Poetry in the Park becomes a true homecoming, uniting our community in shared experience.

My heartfelt thanks go to Clayre Benzadon, Chloe Firetto-Toomey, Diana Szilard, Lia Flores-Romero, and Sophie Pinto-Woodey for sharing their artistry so generously. Their words reminded us that poetry can be funny, familiar, angry, gentle, and thought-provoking—it can even explore science fiction. I am also grateful to the Miami Book Fair for their collaboration. On their behalf, Corey Lewis accepted the City’s Proclamation in Honor of National Poetry Month. Lastly, inclement weather threatened to interrupt, so I am also grateful that Mother Nature spared us a “poetry in the rain” event.

Poetry invites us to slow down and listen more closely, consider the world from different angles, and walk around in the poet's shoes for a stanza or two. My hope is that Poetry in the Park continues to flourish as a space for uplifting local voices and truly celebrating the literary arts here in Sunny Isles Beach.

Contact Vice Mayor Jeniffer Viscarra at seat4@sibfl.net or 305.792.1750.