“Pronounced,” by Carlos Andrés Gómez (Poetry ’18)

2018 poetry graduate Carlos Andrés Gómez was recently featured in Underbelly. Read an excerpt of his poem “Pronounced” below:

Pronounced

You excavate anything that has tried to lodge itself
in your body without permission. You bury the toothbrush
between your back molars and scrape whatever

you find. One loss makes you feel all other losses.
Eleven years later, when you no longer eat pizza
or speak Spanish, when your father’s profile invades

your clenched jawline, you borrow his brisk gait,
his snort, his face. People say you look white.
Your father never does. The restaurant won’t seat

you, the hostess says neither of you meet the dress
code (your father’s wearing a double-breasted suit). 
You are a man trying to roll your r’s again…

Read the poem in its entirety, see an early draft of the poem, and hear about Gómez’s creative process here: https://www.underbellymag.com/carlos-andres-gomez