Gargantas abertas

"Work opens and closes with two poems in Italian as an introduction to these poems inspired by poet's travels and especially reminiscences of Italy, where she grew up. The poem 'Em Que Espelho' dialogues with Cecília Meirelles' poem 'Retrato,' from which it borrows the title. In Meirelles' verse 'Em que espelho ficou perdida minha face?' Colasanti searches for her dead mother's face and her own. The women in the fields, the washerwomen of her childhood, or the women portrayed by Vermeer, Cranach, or Artemisia, personify their passion and rage and survive as modern-day 'Salomés,' carrying in the tray 'nem prata, nem Batista / um copo d'água.'"--Handbook of Latin American Studies, v. 58.