Patrizia Cavalli (b. 1952) was born in Todi (Umbria) and now lives in Rome. Her first three volumes, Le mie poesie non cambieranno il mondo (1974), Il cielo (1981), and L'io singolare proprio mio (1992), are collected in Poesie (1974–92) (1992), and were followed by Sempre aperto teatro (1999) and Pigre divinità e pigra sorte (2006). She has also translated plays by Molière and Shakespeare. "La giornata atlantica," the poem translated here, is from her third collection.