Thaw is a book-length sequence of décimas, ten line strophes which are the quintessential stanza in Cuban popular poetry. Although at first glance these seem simple meditations on nature, when given time, they open out into a larger reflections on human experience, emotions and how the three interact. In Katherine Hedeen's consummate translation, they shine as small gifts of vision or place that envelop the reader in their sensuous immediacy. Nuez enjoys playing with symbols, allowing images to break out into intellectual puzzles and literary references, and resulting in a sequence that is both shadowy and illuminating, tender and insistent, broad and deeply personal. These poems dance between literal, metaphorical and physical worlds, upending any preconceptions on the part of the reader. Condition: Used, Very Good- small note written on inside title page