Chile Verde Smuggler

"Your papi's brand new gillette. It's not brand new, Mama. 'S OK, the hot water and salt will burn the germs. You ready, Juan?"

I find this quote particularly moving because it shows his strength and his rough childhood in the first few lines of the book without even having to tell his struggle. His mom is trying to make the situation better by saying it's brand new, when it is not, also showing they are probobly not very economically stable. And her cutting off his finger with nothing but a razor blade and a bucket of water, shows his rough childhood. Without saying so his strength shines through the lines of a simple story that does not even explain the pain of cutting off his finger, you just know.

"I see you looking at yourself putting letters on paper.' You said. All my illusions of being a poet shrank."

The one thing to avoid as a poet is the act of writing. everything is supposed to come from the heart, but when you watch yourself write, its coming from the brain. Everything is supposed to be true and sincere, but if your not completely caught up in the words instead of the action you are not a true poet as he feels in that moment.