Carlos Andres Gomez asked the audience to come in closer.

“I want this to be intimate,” he said.

Gomez, an award-winning poet from New York, never let the audience of 12 deter him from his heartfelt performance last night in the Grand Ballroom.

“I’d rather have a group of 5 that can take the performance in and understand it than a group of 500 that are just dumb,” Gomez said.

For Gomez, poetry is a means to express his opinion on a variety of issues that challenge people’s perspectives.

Before his career blossomed, Gomez taught high school poetry classes in Philadelphia and New York where he allowed his students to use any words they wanted in class, just as long as they justified their usage.

“At the end of the day, the emotive and cognitive function of me saying ‘shit’ as a climactic point in my narrative can be put in context enough so the kid doesn’t think saying ‘shit’ is just a cool thing to say,” Gomez said.

Interest in spoken word

Gomez first became interested in poetry late in high school after a famous Puerto Rican poet spoke at his school.

“Before that, I was just a basketball player,” Gomez said. “Then I started writing and found the first thing in my life I couldn’t live without.”

Gomez performed a style of poetry known as slam poetry, which often conveys a more confrontational and provocative message.

“Words are powerful. Words are impressive. Words are imperative,” Gomez said. “So think before you talk.”

Strives to shatter indifference

Gomez’s words are aimed to break boundaries and teach people to widen their perspectives.

“The biggest thing is to see that we all come from diverse experiences and perspectives, but there are a lot of core things all of us can relate to that resonates with us,” he said.

Gomez said that in poetry, he wants the audience to have its own opinion and not just agree with everything he says.

“Whether you hate it, whether you love it, agree with it, whether you’re not sure and are confused – I want you to feel something,” Gomez said.

In his poem titled “What’s Genocide?” Gomez touched on school censorship that inhibits teachers from talking about important topics.

“I can’t teach an 18-year-old girl in a public school how to use a condom that will save her life,” Gomez said. “You wonder why children hide in adult bodies.”

Patrick Rowland, senior communications major, said Gomez was different than other poets he has seen before.

“He didn’t just read poems out of a book,” said Rowland. “I could tell it was of his own passion.”

To add to his acclaim, Gomez has written four poetry books. His album, “Carlos Andres Gomez: Live from New York,” won the 2006 Los Angeles Music Award for spoken word album of the year.

“The awards are exciting for about two minutes, but it’s just a footnote that functions as a platform to speak to more people,” Gomez said.

Gomez ended the night by motivating the audience.

“If you take anything away from this tonight, love yourself,” Gomez said. “A lot of things in the world tell you that you’re not enough, but we are all born enough.”

Gomez’s fifth book comes out next month with a double CD to be released early next year.