Read the lines from The Elements of San Joaquín. After a day in the grape fields near Rolinda A fine silt, washed by sweat, Has settled into the lines On my wrists and palms. Already I am becoming the valley, A soil that sprouts nothing. For any of us. Which statement is a theme in this excerpt? The land is less fertile than it was in the past. Working conditions in the fields need to be cleaner. The lives of the workers in the fields are bleak. Field workers develop a strong affection for the land.