How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Stanza)
Quote #7
There is barely a blade of grass / swaying in the stinging wind, / there are only these / lumps of flesh / that once were hands long enough to span octaves, / swinging at my sides. (39.4)
Perhaps second to Ma and the baby, the greatest loss Billie Jo sustains in the accident is the damage to her hands. While she obviously heals to the point of being able to play piano again, having everything that was important to her taken away—including her ability to play music—demonstrates the tremendous amount of pain she's been dealt.
Quote #8
But now, / sorrow climbs our front steps, / big as Texas, and we didn't even see it coming, / even thought it'd been making its way straight for us / all along. (46.1)
The Dust Bowl itself is a metaphor for the overall suffering the characters experience. Like sorrow itself, it's all encompassing, unexpected, and can't be stopped.
Quote #9
Joe De La Flor can't afford to feet his cows, / can't afford to sell them. / County Agent Dewey comes, / takes the cows behind the barn, / and shoots them. / Too hard to watch their lungs clog with dust, / like our chickens, suffocated. (56.1)
The suffering the dust inflicts on the land is so widespread that even the animals aren't immune to it, not even small ones like chickens. If you're in its path, you'll be touched by it.