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You are here: Home / Poetry / At the Gwanghwamun Bakery

At the Gwanghwamun Bakery

Poetry by Loren Goodman

I pick up my pretzels
With butter. She is there
Behind the counter. “It’s
Been a long time” I say
Trying out my few
Phrases. “You were here
Yesterday!” She laughs
Spinning my pretzels
In plastic with machine-
Like speed and precision
“You’re good at that”
“I’m a professional”
She hands me the bag
I turn to walk out but
Turn back to ask the
Significance of the dark
Green lines below her
Wrist. “It’s my father’s
Name.” I nod and turn
To go but turn once more
“What about my name?”
“It’s not there”

 

Loren Goodman is the author of Famous Americans, selected by W.S. Merwin for the 2002 Yale Series of Younger Poets, Suppository Writing (2008) and New Products (2010). He is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing and English Literature at Yonsei University/Underwood International College in Seoul, Korea, and serves as the UIC Creative Writing Director.

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Call for Submissions: Special Issue on Iran

Call for submissions by Iranian women (trans & non-binary inclusive) writers. Learn more and submit your work here.

New Orleans Review is delighted to announce the publication of its first book, Interviews from the Edge: 50 Years of Conversations about Writing and Resistance
(Bloomsbury 2019).

Visit the Digital Archive of NOR Print Issues, 1968-2019

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