Green Chile

Green Chile by Jimmy Santiago Baca is a poem contrasting red and green chile in the manner of personal preference. In the beginning, he states his own preference of red chile. He describes them as something that has a "historical grandeur" they create an "air of festive welcome" and likens them to "yellowing, crisp, rasping tongues of old men". The first few lines are then followed by the personal preference of his grandmother(and also of those in New Mexico), the green chile. Now, the poet firstly described the red chile as historical but when it comes to the green chile the description differs. The green chile is hot, spicy, and is compared to a "well-dressed gentlemen", who I envision as younger than the historical grandeur of the red chile. The poet narrates his grandmother's actions, she prepares the green chile for him as he is analyzing her relationship with it. The relationship is described as youthful, such as "fondling", caressing the green chile "with lust on her hot mouth". The poet then mentions that the grandmother sacrifices to feed him. This brings the entire poem together. A child worshiping the old grand historical chile while the old celebrate the youthful green chile, but the main point is that elders sacrifice their youth so that the young may be the ones who benefit from the youthful. Which is why I think the poet mentions that green chile are picked by "sunburned" men and why they are sold every where in New Mexico. This act of keeping the youth alive and sacrificing it all together to create a cycle of love and tradition.