Blood from the belly tastes sweeter/than blood from anywhere else. We know this/but don’t know why.”
-- The Speaker (Soot)

Importance: This quote is important in the way it conveys one of the central internal conflicts that the speaker experiences all throughout the book. In this poem, as well as many others, we see the speaker confronted by the thrall of what seem like primal and unknowable urges as they struggle with their addictions.

For so long every step I’ve taken/has been from one tongue to another.”
-- The Speaker (Do You Speak Persian?)

Importance: This quote is important as it highlights the significance of the connection between language and identity or a sense of self. Here, as the speaker finds themselves farther and farther removed from their homeland, they find their very self changing as they transition from the use of their first language, Farsi, to their second language, English. This causes a rupture in their identity...