The Notebooks of a Chile Verde Smmuggler- 55-80

"Things Religion Makes Me Do

Sit back, cross my legs, and cry." (61)

He writes a list of "things religion makes him do" and none of it is very good. The last one alone makes it sound like he doesn't like religion and the things it does to people. Some of it is very weird and not what you would think, but he is trying to portray that religion can make people do weird things because they believe it is ok in God's eyes. That even though strange, it has a purpose.

"I was invited to give a commencement rap a few weeks ago for the English Department at San Jose State University. A women asked me what writers influenced me, who did I read? I said, my mother. Lucha Quintana. Have you heard of that writer? The women's neck twisted. No, she wanted to know "what writers!" She wanted to ask the usual worn phrase. Ginsberg, Artaud, Nervo, Lorca, Neruda, Popa, HIkmet, Rodnati, Walker. These are the shadows-I should have told her." (69)

Here you can tell that he doesn't do what people expect of him, and he knows it, but still does it. He sticks to what is close to him and his heritage. He was inspired by his mom, not some well-known writer that everyone reads. He doesn't like that everyone does that, they all read the same group and expect that professors and everyone to be impressed by that. He sticks to his past and what’s close to him to make his writing more personal.