The Mexican writer is considered one of the most prominent voices in poetry in Spanish. She turns 78 full of recognition and work, but without rushing.

“Whatever ends, fine; What not, I will try not to leave it in disarray, or things in half,” she says. Cross has had an almost mystical experience with death. She writes about that experience in Poems for Cecilia (i.i.): You have taken root in death, but you pass away.