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The Baby Bracelet
Xiomara’s notebook, which is ostensibly the novel itself, is where she pours out all of her true and uncensored thoughts, feelings, and questions about her world and the people in it. Because of this, it begins to take on the role of functioning as Xiomara’s true soul and the embodiment of who she really is inside. However, when Mami finds, reads, and burns the notebook, Xiomara begins to discover her own capacity for growth, resilience, and self-assuredness. She discovers that she doesn’t necessarily need her notebook in order to feel like who she truly is, in part because she has many of her poems memorized and in part because having her notebook burned represents a turning point in which Xiomara begins to live her truth in her everyday life, not just in her notebook. In this sense, the notebook functions as more of a tool in Xiomara’s growth than a direct representation of her soul. It teaches her that her soul and her true self live within her and don’t have to exist in an external form to be valid and worthwhile.
Xiomara’s Poetry Notebook Quotes in The Poet X
The The Poet X quotes below all refer to the symbol of Xiomara’s Poetry Notebook. 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:
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Part III
Quotes
I can’t remember
the last time people were silent
while I spoke, actually listening.
Not since Aman.
But it’s nice to know I don’t need him
in order to feel listened to.
My little words
feel important, for just a moment.
This is a feeling I could get addicted to.
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Because so many of the poems tonight
felt a little like our own stories.
Like we saw and were seen.
And how crazy would it be
if I did that for someone else?
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And I know that I’m ready to slam.
That my poetry has become something I’m proud of.
The way the words say what I mean,
how they twist and turn language,
how they connect with people.
How they build community.
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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?”
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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:
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Get the entire The Poet X LitChart as a printable PDF.
Xiomara’s Poetry Notebook Symbol Timeline in The Poet X
The timeline below shows where the symbol Xiomara’s Poetry Notebook appears in The Poet X. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part I: In the Beginning Was the World
...Actually Turn In). Xiomara writes that when she turned 12, Twin bought her a leather-bound poetry notebook for their birthday. It has a woman reaching for the sky on the cover and...
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...and Twin get home, Xiomara puts in headphones to listen to Drake. She grabs her poetry notebook and writes poems about all the things she wishes she’d said. Xiomara says that it...
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...she’s reciting verses and knows that Mami thinks she means Bible verses. She hides her poetry notebook in her towel and reminds herself that she didn’t really lie.
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Part II: And the Word Was Made Flesh
...asks her to read him one of her poems. Xiomara freezes, but pulls out her poetry notebook and warns Aman not to laugh. Aman closes his eyes and listens to a poem...
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Part III: The Voice of One Crying in the Wilderness
Writing. Xiomara spends every day in class writing in her poetry notebook . Ms. Galiano sends Xiomara to the counselor, who threatens to call home when Xiomara...
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Gone. Xiomara hates lunch now too. Boys try to squeeze in and look at her poetry notebook or other girls’ drawings. Sometimes teachers intervene. Ms. Galiano always does, but not all the...
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...to be seen, not heard. Isabelle reassures Xiomara and Ms. Galiano nods. Xiomara grips her poetry notebook and reads.
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...her free time writing. She can’t wait to tell the poetry club about performing. Her poetry notebook seems to swell with all the new poems and Xiomara feels like as she writes,...
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The Bad. Xiomara rummages through her bag for her poetry notebook , but she only finds the one Twin just gave her. Her old one is...
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The Ugly. Xiomara notices right away that her poetry notebook isn’t on the kitchen table. Mami is sitting on Xiomara’s bed, holding the notebook. Softly,...
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...match to the leather cover and begins to pray. Xiomara leaps and grabs for her poetry notebook , but Mami turns and shoves Xiomara. Xiomara feels like she truly understands what it...
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...if Mami is going to burn her too. Twin races in and grabs for the poetry notebook , but Mami pushes him back. Papi gently coaxes the notebook out of Mami’s hands...
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...her eyes when she feels Aman taking off her boots. She tells him about her poetry notebook and her chest hurts. Aman pulls her close.
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...recites a truthful poem. Twin’s help with practice means that it’s polished, and her new poetry notebook makes her feel like she deserves to be there. Aman’s support makes her not see...
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