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University of Texas at El Paso DigitalCommons@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2017-01-01 Her Alessandra Narvaez-Varela University of Texas at El Paso, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the Creative Writing Commons, and the Women's Studies Commons Recommended Citation Narvaez-Varela, Alessandra, "Her" (2017). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 509. https://digitalcommons.utep.edu/open_etd/509 This is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UTEP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HER ALESSANDRA NARVÁEZ-VARELA Master's Program in Creative Writing APPROVED: Sasha Pimentel, Chair Andrea Cote-Botero, Ph.D. David Ruiter, Ph.D. Charles Ambler, Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School . Copyright © by Alessandra Narváez-Varela 2017 For my mother—Amanda Socorro Varela Aragón— the original Her HER by ALESSANDRA NARVÁEZ-VARELA, B.S in Biology, B.A. in Creative Writing THESIS Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at El Paso in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of MASTER OF FINE ARTS Department of Creative Writing THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO December 2017 Acknowledgements Thank you to the editors of Duende for publishing a previous version of “The Cosmic Millimeter,” and to the Department of Hispanic Studies at the University of Houston for the forthcoming publication of a chapbook featuring the following poems: “Curves,” “Savage Nerd Cunt,” “Beauty,” “Bride,” “An Education,” “Daddy, Look at Me,” and “Cut.” Thank you to Casa Cultural de las Américas for sponsoring the reading that made this chapbook possible. Thank you to Huizache for publishing “Real Mexican,” a bilingual poem that though not in Her, inspired me to incorporate my native Spanish in this manuscript. I would also like to express my profound gratitude to Professor Sasha Pimentel, my thesis advisor, for her patient feedback and love for poetry, which made Her come to life despite the lack of faith I had in myself as an emerging poet inspired by all the girls and women I’ve met, including her—a poet of integrity and heart. I’m honored to be your student. I would also like to thank Dr. Andrea Cote-Botero, a force of nature whose teaching and poetry opened my eyes to the possibilities of Spanish and Spanglish in poetry, and Dr. David Ruiter for supporting my academic goals and writing since I met him in 2005. Thanks to both of you for being part of my graduate committee. Thanks to the Department of Creative Writing, especially Dr. Rosa Alcalá, Professor Daniel Chacón, Dr. Jeff Sirkin, and Dr. Lex Williford, for their unwavering support. Thanks to my classmates Andi Castillo, Paula Cucurella Lanvin, and Suzie Mamoud, who read and improved many of these poems with their sharp eyes and kind words. Finally, de todo corazón, mil gracias to my husband Paul LaPrade for his intelligence and beauty, and to my family—Amanda, Carlos, Yazmín and Leyla Narváez—whose love made the writing of Her possible. v Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................v Table of Contents .................................................................................................................. vi Critical Preface .......................................................................................................................1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................1 Poetic License .........................................................................................................................6 Social Consciousness ...................................................................................................12 Self-Awareness ............................................................................................................16 Confessional Label .......................................................................................................25 “Absent” Men ..............................................................................................................35 Narrative Arc ........................................................................................................................42 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................50 Works Cited ..........................................................................................................................52 Her…………. .......................................................................................................................54 Shameless..............................................................................................................................54 Unseen ..................................................................................................................................55 For My Sister on the Eve of Her Episiotomy .......................................................................57 Frowning ...............................................................................................................................58 Centimeters ...........................................................................................................................59 The Lie ..................................................................................................................................62 Savage Nerd Cunt .................................................................................................................63 After Her ...............................................................................................................................65 The List .................................................................................................................................67 Bad Words ............................................................................................................................68 Mr. S. ....................................................................................................................................70 Daddy, Look at Me ...............................................................................................................72 From Jack with Love ............................................................................................................73 An Education ........................................................................................................................74 Sugar Babies .........................................................................................................................75 Dream Oven ..........................................................................................................................76 She Must’ve ..........................................................................................................................77 Monster .................................................................................................................................81 vi Mothers and Daughters and Sisters ......................................................................................82 Wicked ..................................................................................................................................85 Forever Fonda .......................................................................................................................89 The Fight ...............................................................................................................................91 Cooking .................................................................................................................................93 Goddess .................................................................................................................................95 Skinny ...................................................................................................................................97 Light .....................................................................................................................................99 A Day in the Life ................................................................................................................102 Bride ...................................................................................................................................106 Breast Anatomy ..................................................................................................................108 Curves .................................................................................................................................111 Ugly ...................................................................................................................................113 Ripe ...................................................................................................................................114 Hoe ...................................................................................................................................116 First Kiss .............................................................................................................................119