In Antes Que Adoeça [Before I Get Sick], there is something of a game of equivalences: word as sculpture, poems as space. If we use the scale of the hand, the book has the dimensions of a resting palm. Conceived with an emphasis on craftsmanship, allied with the convocation of specialized knowledge — particularly in binding, engraving, and pagination — it was conceived as a work by many hands. For this reason, it presents itself as a seductive object, imbued with a sense of preciousness. The care invested in the choice of every material used also contributes to this, denoting the valorization of each component. On the cover itself, an insignia, struck by a firm gesture, alerts to the symbolic potential to be found inside the work. This emblem suggests a derivation from a fleur-de-lis, a heraldic element traditionally associated with purity and spirituality. In this case, the three 'petals' point in the same direction. This figure combines three dominant images — flower, flame, bird — as if it were an adaptation of a symbol, a personal stamp. In any case, these elements belong to the natural world and freely traverse the entire book, in different formulations, sometimes through text, sometimes through drawing. The title shows a latent threat, linked to the idea of illness. In the face of this possibility, what remains is anticipation: observing before falling ill; writing before falling ill; recording, transfiguring; declaring love, before falling ill. (Luísa Especial)