thaw / deshielos. Trad. Katherine M. Hedeen. Todmorden [UK]: Arc Publications, 2013.
thaw is a book length sequence of décimas (ten-line poems). At first glance these seem simple meditations on nature that, when given time, open out into larger reflections on human experience, emotions and how the three interact. They shine as small gifts of visions or place that envelop the reader with their sensuous immediacy. Rodríguez Núñez enjoys playing with symbols, allowing images to break out to offer intellectual puzzles and literary references. As such the poems dance between literal metaphorical and physical worlds, upending what you may have previously perceived or thought. A rich and peculiar sequence that is both shadowy and illuminating, tender and insistent, broad and deeply personal.