The Poet X

by

Elizabeth Acevedo

Mami Character Analysis

Mami is Xiomara and Twin’s mother; she works as a custodian. As a young teen in the Dominican Republic, Mami wanted to be a nun and devote her life to Jesus. However, her parents forced her to marry Papi so that she could come to the U.S., depriving Mami of the future she wanted. Though Xiomara doesn’t question Mami’s devotion, she also notices the scars on Mami’s knuckles and knows that Mami was taught how to be devout in an abusive way. When Xiomara is little, Mami adores her and insists that Xiomara is her prize for being devout, but as Xiomara grows, Mami grows increasingly abusive and controlling. She makes a particular point to control Xiomara’s sexuality; her dating rules are that Xiomara can’t date until after college. Mami also bitterly insists that all men are terrible, neglectful, and abusive, so she believes that Xiomara has no reason to date anyway. Following Xiomara and Twin’s birth, Mami’s devotion increased dramatically and in the present, she attends Mass nightly and often takes Xiomara along when Xiomara is being punished. Mami’s conception of devotion, at least when it comes to Xiomara, is abusive and rooted in pain. She refuses to care for heathens, so Xiomara has no choice but to attend church and be confirmed—and when she does step out of line, Mami forces her to kneel on rice and pray to the Virgin Mary. Mami is entirely unmoored when she discovers and reads Xiomara’s poetry notebook. Xiomara’s poetry about boys, her questions about church, and her conflicted emotions about Mami offend Mami deeply—in part because she sees that Xiomara isn’t ashamed of what she writes. Mami burns the notebook but, when Xiomara runs away for a night, she finally agrees to open a dialogue with the help of Father Sean. Xiomara comes to the conclusion that while she and Mami may never agree or be great friends, they can still love each other, and Mami becomes significantly more supportive of Xiomara after starting counseling.

Mami Quotes in The Poet X

The The Poet X quotes below are all either spoken by Mami or refer to Mami. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Sexuality and Shame Theme Icon
).
Part I Quotes

I look at her scarred knuckles.
I know exactly how she was taught
faith.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami
Page Number: 17
Explanation and Analysis:

Their gazes and words
are heavy with all the things
they want you to be.

It is ungrateful to feel like a burden.
It is ungrateful to resent my own birth.
I know that Twin and I are miracles.

Aren’t we reminded every single day?

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Twin , Mami, Papi
Page Number: 21
Explanation and Analysis:

And I get all this attention from guys
but it’s like a sancocho of emotions.

This stew of mixed-up ingredients:
partly flattered they think I’m attractive,
partly scared they’re only interested in my ass and boobs,
and a good measure of Mami-will-kill-me fear sprinkled on top.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Aman, Ms. Galiano
Page Number: 32
Explanation and Analysis:

What if I like a boy too much
and none of those things happen...
they’re the only scales I have.

How does a girl like me figure out the weight
of what it means to love a boy?

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Papi
Page Number: 33
Explanation and Analysis:

“Good girls don’t wear tampones.
Are you still a virgin? Are you having relations?”

I didn’t know how to answer her, I could only cry.
She shook her head and told me to skip church that day.
Threw away the box of tampons, saying they were for cueros.
That she would buy me pads. Said eleven was too young.
That she would pray on my behalf.

I didn’t understand what she was saying.
But I stopped crying. I licked at my split lip.
I prayed for the bleeding to stop.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami (speaker)
Page Number: 40
Explanation and Analysis:

what’s the point of God giving me life
if I can’t live it as my own?

Why does listening to his commandments
mean I need to shut down my own voice?

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Father Sean
Page Number: 57
Explanation and Analysis:
Part II Quotes

When I was little
Mami was my hero.
But then I grew breasts
and although she was always extra hard on me,
her attention became something else,
like she wanted to turn me
into the nun
she could never be.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis:

I don’t yell how the whole block whispers
when I walk down the street
about all the women
who made a cuero out of him.

But men are never called cueros.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Papi, Aman
Page Number: 194
Explanation and Analysis:

I’ll be anything that makes sense
of this panic. I’ll loosen myself from this painful flesh.

See, a cuero is any skin. A cuero
is just a covering. A cuero is a loose thing.
Tied down by no one. Fluttering
and waving in the wind. Flying. Flying. Gone.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Papi, Aman
Page Number: 206
Explanation and Analysis:
Part III Quotes

“I’m sorry I got in trouble.
I’m sorry I have to be here.
That I have to pretend to you and her
that I care about confirmation at all.
But I’m not sorry I kissed a boy.
I’m only sorry I was caught,
Or that I had to hide it at all.”

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Aman, Father Sean
Page Number: 226
Explanation and Analysis:

But even business deals are promises.
And we still married in a church.
And so I never walked away from him

although I tried my best to get back
to my first love.
And confirmation is the last step I can give you.

Related Characters: Mami (speaker), Xiomara Batista, Papi, Aman
Page Number: 231
Explanation and Analysis:

I actually raise my hand
in English class
and answer Ms. Galiano’s question.
Because at least here with her,
I know my words are okay.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Twin , Mami, Aman, Ms. Galiano
Page Number: 264
Explanation and Analysis:

I lay it across my wrist
and cinch the clasps closed.
Her daughter on one side,
myself on the other.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami
Related Symbols: The Baby Bracelet
Page Number: 292
Explanation and Analysis:

I have no more poems. My mind blanks.
A roar tears from my mouth.
“Burn it! Burn it.
This is where the poems are,” I say,
thumping a fist against my chest.

“Will you burn me? Will you burn me, too?
You would burn me, wouldn’t you, if you could?”

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami
Related Symbols: Xiomara’s Poetry Notebook
Page Number: 308
Explanation and Analysis:

She puts a soft hand on my arm
and I look into the face of a woman
not much older than me,
a woman with a Spanish last name,
who loves books and poetry,
who I notice for the first time is pretty,
who has a soft voice and called my house
because she was worried
and the words are out before I know it:

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Aman, Ms. Galiano
Related Symbols: Xiomara’s Poetry Notebook
Page Number: 332
Explanation and Analysis:

And so, I love this quote because even though it’s not about poetry, it IS about poetry. It’s about any of the words that bring us together and how we can form a home in them.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Father Sean, Ms. Galiano
Page Number: 356
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Poet X LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Poet X PDF

Mami Quotes in The Poet X

The The Poet X quotes below are all either spoken by Mami or refer to Mami. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Sexuality and Shame Theme Icon
).
Part I Quotes

I look at her scarred knuckles.
I know exactly how she was taught
faith.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami
Page Number: 17
Explanation and Analysis:

Their gazes and words
are heavy with all the things
they want you to be.

It is ungrateful to feel like a burden.
It is ungrateful to resent my own birth.
I know that Twin and I are miracles.

Aren’t we reminded every single day?

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Twin , Mami, Papi
Page Number: 21
Explanation and Analysis:

And I get all this attention from guys
but it’s like a sancocho of emotions.

This stew of mixed-up ingredients:
partly flattered they think I’m attractive,
partly scared they’re only interested in my ass and boobs,
and a good measure of Mami-will-kill-me fear sprinkled on top.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Aman, Ms. Galiano
Page Number: 32
Explanation and Analysis:

What if I like a boy too much
and none of those things happen...
they’re the only scales I have.

How does a girl like me figure out the weight
of what it means to love a boy?

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Papi
Page Number: 33
Explanation and Analysis:

“Good girls don’t wear tampones.
Are you still a virgin? Are you having relations?”

I didn’t know how to answer her, I could only cry.
She shook her head and told me to skip church that day.
Threw away the box of tampons, saying they were for cueros.
That she would buy me pads. Said eleven was too young.
That she would pray on my behalf.

I didn’t understand what she was saying.
But I stopped crying. I licked at my split lip.
I prayed for the bleeding to stop.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami (speaker)
Page Number: 40
Explanation and Analysis:

what’s the point of God giving me life
if I can’t live it as my own?

Why does listening to his commandments
mean I need to shut down my own voice?

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Father Sean
Page Number: 57
Explanation and Analysis:
Part II Quotes

When I was little
Mami was my hero.
But then I grew breasts
and although she was always extra hard on me,
her attention became something else,
like she wanted to turn me
into the nun
she could never be.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis:

I don’t yell how the whole block whispers
when I walk down the street
about all the women
who made a cuero out of him.

But men are never called cueros.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Papi, Aman
Page Number: 194
Explanation and Analysis:

I’ll be anything that makes sense
of this panic. I’ll loosen myself from this painful flesh.

See, a cuero is any skin. A cuero
is just a covering. A cuero is a loose thing.
Tied down by no one. Fluttering
and waving in the wind. Flying. Flying. Gone.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Papi, Aman
Page Number: 206
Explanation and Analysis:
Part III Quotes

“I’m sorry I got in trouble.
I’m sorry I have to be here.
That I have to pretend to you and her
that I care about confirmation at all.
But I’m not sorry I kissed a boy.
I’m only sorry I was caught,
Or that I had to hide it at all.”

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Aman, Father Sean
Page Number: 226
Explanation and Analysis:

But even business deals are promises.
And we still married in a church.
And so I never walked away from him

although I tried my best to get back
to my first love.
And confirmation is the last step I can give you.

Related Characters: Mami (speaker), Xiomara Batista, Papi, Aman
Page Number: 231
Explanation and Analysis:

I actually raise my hand
in English class
and answer Ms. Galiano’s question.
Because at least here with her,
I know my words are okay.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Twin , Mami, Aman, Ms. Galiano
Page Number: 264
Explanation and Analysis:

I lay it across my wrist
and cinch the clasps closed.
Her daughter on one side,
myself on the other.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami
Related Symbols: The Baby Bracelet
Page Number: 292
Explanation and Analysis:

I have no more poems. My mind blanks.
A roar tears from my mouth.
“Burn it! Burn it.
This is where the poems are,” I say,
thumping a fist against my chest.

“Will you burn me? Will you burn me, too?
You would burn me, wouldn’t you, if you could?”

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami
Related Symbols: Xiomara’s Poetry Notebook
Page Number: 308
Explanation and Analysis:

She puts a soft hand on my arm
and I look into the face of a woman
not much older than me,
a woman with a Spanish last name,
who loves books and poetry,
who I notice for the first time is pretty,
who has a soft voice and called my house
because she was worried
and the words are out before I know it:

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Aman, Ms. Galiano
Related Symbols: Xiomara’s Poetry Notebook
Page Number: 332
Explanation and Analysis:

And so, I love this quote because even though it’s not about poetry, it IS about poetry. It’s about any of the words that bring us together and how we can form a home in them.

Related Characters: Xiomara Batista (speaker), Mami, Father Sean, Ms. Galiano
Page Number: 356
Explanation and Analysis: