The O, Miami Poetry Festival and National Poetry Month are over, but poetry lives on in South Florida. From haikus in Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden to a fierce Literary Death Match battle at Purdy Lounge, O, Miami and the Knight Foundation exposed Miami-Dade County residents  and tourists alike to the visceral, surreal and often hysterical power of poetry to entertain and enlighten.

Of course, there was high drama — James Franco’s flight was delayed, and he was unable to attend the packed house at New World Symphony waiting for his arrival. He was scheduled to read from his book of short stories. Despite the horde of angry girls waiting for Franco, Dave Landsberger, Tony Hoagland and Campbell McGrath saved the evening. According to David Beltran, “Tony Hoagland was one of the best poets I’ve heard so far, and he used his words like a knife to cut through the tension of the audience and then, like a feather, tickled their ear drums with his surprisingly honest, yet funny, worldview.” He received a strong applause after he bowed out.

O, Miami was about more than just big name poets and literary/movie stars. The community was invited to participate in O, Miami and invited to enter writing contests and contribute to an epic poem at Beached Miami. Nicole Hospital-Medina, a graduate student at the University of Miami, won the Miami Herald Haiku Challenge, where readers submitted poems based on the days’ headlines.

Nicole’s winning haiku:

A dead Kentucky, frayed backpack dispersing pills, Sunshine denial.

There were 10 runners-up in the Haiku Challenge. To read their work, go here. Read more haikus here.

At Beached Miami, the O, Miami epic is in progress. You may visit the site and contribute your own text in the comment section, which will then be added to the epic. You can hover over the poem and click the highlighted text to see who contributed which line to the poem. Visit Beached Miami here to learn more about the project.

Now that O, Miami is over, I want more. I know P. Scott Cunningham and his team at the University of Wynwood are going to unwind from the O, Miami hurricane that just passed. But I also hope they get to work soon on next year’s festival. Because Miami wants more poetry. We want more O, Miami!