Atravesar (Crossing Over), the poetry collection by Roberta Gould, presents a journey through time and distance; its poems show us how to access shared experiences from her life—with friends, family, and mentors—whether in a café, a memory, a specific stage of life, on earth, or in the heavens. Roberta Gould’s poems allow us to cross over into the magic of that café retreat—be it at home, on vacation, or by imagining spaces otherwise inaccessible to those unable to leave their own spot.
By crossing the boundaries of these poems and discovering new faces—witnessing conflicts and lingering resentments—Roberta Gould guides us through various encounters as she gives voice to new verses. Thus, we can traverse the invisible threads connecting the faces Gould discovered during her migrations; we can feel the love and glimpse the hidden details of a journey amidst *nopales* and *rebozos*—subjects that might not seem like material for new poetry, yet which allow us to increasingly evoke memories of childhood and adolescence, whether on this earth or in another dimension of the journey. We cross the wall of these emotions—poised between life and death—framed by Gould, who tears down the barriers of earthly limitations.
She reveals that, through the simple act of reading her poems, it becomes possible to traverse these lands without regard for language, nationality, or philosophy. When we place our hearts in the landscapes Roberta Gould has witnessed, we become citizens of the world, dwelling within the inner life of her poetic dialogue. In life—and especially today—this is not always achieved; yet, if we sit down for a coffee, and—during that experience, in the very moment we add sugar or gaze at the voluptuous swirls rising from its aroma (perhaps coffee with vanilla or cinnamon)—we unveil the profound meaning of these poems and, through them, the meaning of life itself, we discover that it matters not whether we find ourselves at a border, far away or close by, or even in a café in India or a railway station in Mexico—whether enjoying life alongside an AI robot or acting as the robots of our own existence. Earth is the shared destination of body and soul; for Roberta Gould, to traverse is to prepare oneself to live a life without borders. This is our Earth. Let us, then, share this timeless, borderless, memory-free coffee with her and other friends as we journey through her words.
