Katigbak-Lacuesta’s work investigates the fraught love and power dynamics between men and women, colonizer and colonized, as well as the contradictions of the feminine path in both ancient and modern literary plots. Shot through with violence and passion, sap and desire, these poems explore both loss and the price of belonging. They make their own captivating music, dirge and praise, internal rhyme, and surprising turns of phrase. “Love, come in, sit down, I’m open for business,” writes Lacuesta. What a pleasure to take her up on this invitation.