"Business" is one of the poems in the Mainland collection by Victor Hernandez Cruz. The poem speaks about the regular arrest of a street vendor whose subsequent performances in the courtroom delight everyone but the judge, who does not appreciate the vendor's apparent disrespect for convention.
The beginning of the poem attributes the story to a man named Don Arturo who says that there used to be a man who sold puppets and whistles to make his living. This man would also play guitar to attract people to his goods at shopping areas. Huge crowds would gather to see the man, and they would buy his puppets and whistles and throw coins into his guitar. Selling on the street in this fashion was against the law, so the man was arrested at least three times each.....
This is a free excerpt of 135 words. This section contains 503 words. This
study guide contains 6,729 words (approx. 22 pages at 300
words per page).
Read the rest of this Literature Guide with our Business Access Pass.