Cofer selections from "The Latin Deli"

In my own life, the grocery store, particularly the smaller neighborhood style specialty stores, has always been a hub for socialization. It is rare that I do not run into someone familiar to me or a good friend while running errands here, and my experience is always marked by some sort of conversation with either a stranger or an acquaintance. The deli in this poem is described similarly, but this neighborhood is populated by immigrants, particularly of Hispanic decent. I think it is pretty well known that food is a tool that brings people and communities together. I liked the idea of recounting this union from the store clerk's perspective as they are regular observers of conversation and interaction. Through the dialog described, it seems as if these customers are united both geographically (as they frequent the same store) and culturally. They share in a longing to return home and a struggle through economic hardship. The store clerk seems to be aware and understanding of the fact that her store provides a bit of a "return home" for her customers as they relive memories through products and retell stories and this brings her satisfaction and comfort.
The poem "Nothing Wasted" particularly stood out to me. It is very important to the mother that, through every move, she brings with her a semblence of life and familiarity in the form of her gardens. Maybe she strives to make her child (and herself) more comfortable in each new home. Although the garden must start anew in each place, just as the family must, one thing remains constant in the jar with the avocado pit. This was interesting to me because it is common to start the growth of an avocado plant in this way but it eventually grows into a larger, more stable tree. This might symbolize her desire to eventually put down more deep seeded roots in their lives. The part about the egg breaking in the cage and her disposing of it so casually into the garden combined with the title of the poem may have something to do with the family's struggle to make ends meet (everything is used, nothing is wasted) or also the idea that with an end something begins again (the egg giving nourishment to the soil and new life).