"In this first US publication of celebrated Italian poet Bianca Tarozzi, narrative poems (presented bilingually in both English and the original Italian) carry us through the poet's childhood memories of World War II under Mussolini, harsh post-war conditions, and mid-century changes that transformed Italian life, specifically for women. A unique figure in contemporary Italian poetry, Tarozzi draws significant influence from acclaimed American poets-Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop, and James Merrill-interweaving powerful subjects with humor and heart. After you have packed the suitcase, shut off the gas, turned all the lights out, locked the window and the big outside door, when you lean against a wall, afraid of falling, and wait, expecting the vehicle, the means that will transport you far away, when the sky sails clear, blue, and annihilating above the overpass, and you have no past or future, in that empty moment poetry pitches its tent."--