“There is something resuscitative about this body of work that the Poet reminds us is flor y canto. Indeed, it is “a collective excavation,” as Alvarez writes. It is uncomfortable and painful, yet mostly, it is a suspiro - a sigh of relief to finally belong, be seen, beheld, and assured page after page that it is quite enough to simply be. It is enough.

La tinta negra y la tinta roja de los codices are harkened here. The red of the cochinilla chupando los nopales. El negro de la tierra después de una lluvia profunda, verde y fructífera. Muddy mineral mayhem just everywhere. Y allí viene la artista. La quien busca la luz - oh, yes, this Xicana searched for the light and found it.

These poems will call out the poetry in you. The title alone is like a mathematical equation, daring the reader to go back and remember an ancient knowing to which we belong . . .”

- Brenda Vaca, Riot of Roses