Poetry. Translated from the Portuguese by Alexis Levitin. In this first-ever bilingual edition of CAGE, eminent Brazilian poet Astrid Cabral is an insightful and irreverent guide to the natural world, leading the beguiled reader through landscapes of rare and surprising beauty. From serpents to seahorses, and from the wilds of the Amazon to the orderly realm of suburbia, these poems urge us to consider our surroundings with empathy and attentiveness. Cabral's complex, multifaceted verse glints with compressed energy, offering a densely layered vision in which simplicity is deceptive and conclusions are likely to be double-edged. A poet of considerable imaginative gifts and metaphysical flair, Astrid Cabral has produced a work of cauterizing beauty. In this perfectly orchestrated volume, each poem enriches and expands the poems that surround it.

Astrid Cabral is the author of numerous books of poetry, including Through Water (2003) and Anteroom (2007), along with collections of essays and short fiction. Alexis Levitin's translation of her recent book of poetry, Cage, is forthcoming from Host Publications. Born in Manaus, she has lived and worked as a diplomat in Beirut and Chicago and has taught in the United States and Brazil. She makes her home in Rio de Janeiro.