This collection of poems, RIOT OF ROSES, is at once a confrontation, a confession, an embrace. It took me 44 years to love myself with abandon and to trust myself as a writer. I caught glimpses of this deep love throughout my life. I even preached about it on Sundays twice - in English and en Español - for over a decade as a pastor. Still, I was restrained and bound by my gender and by my culture, and literally collared by religiosity. Thankfully, Spirit planted a love for words and stories deep in me that took root and I found that the poet was still there. This book tells an ancient truth of survival, thriving, death, and the power of regeneration.