Rolando Gomez - Cynthia Gomez

Rolando Gomez

As casual and unknown to the mind
A movement
Such as a scratch of the nose or
The unconscious foot which steps before the other
He came out of his room
In his underwear.
His brothers, which gathered there on Sundays,
Paused their conversations to look over and greet him.
But all he did was raise his hands and argue with no one
Over lies and truths.
Not knowing the difference.
He imitated the very discourses of the man who made him this way.
Of course a boy of six years could not possibly comprehend.
He processed it the best he knew how.
As he spent his life this way
Not knowing another world but the one behind his eyes
Unable to change the blankness of his face
At his father’s embrace
His brothers wondered if their love was known
If he felt warmth as they did.
When the brothers’ father passed away
They mourned for days and then they knew.
They knew Rolando felt cold and warm
And weakness and fear
Because two weeks later
Rolando died, too.