The poetry of Aida Santos in this collection, which spans more than half a century, transforms the continents and islands, the villages and beaches, the parties and rallies of her exterior world into the richly contoured geography of an interior life. As we read her poems, we journey through the climes of these terrains of the spirit, unweathered yet by extreme weather, and habitually attentive to the uncommon lessons of everyday phenomena such as sunrises and sunsets. She is most vital and pithy when she pays homage to departed friends and comrades in the revolutionary movement. How does the woman poet as a survivor of grave loss and much graver suffering endure? Santos as a witness interrogates herself and sings to us the high notes of her repartees. – Lina Sagaral Reyes