Altar of the Imagination is a work of love and loss. Each poem is a witness attempting to make order out of the three generations of women surviving an immigrant history sick with guilt and shame. When the chaos cleared and the last of the lineage is born into and falls in abundant love early in life, there is now confusion of choice: how does she live a satisfied life?As an Aztec dancer, offering prayer to Coatlicue, Coyolxauhqui, and Tonantzin in every dance, each poem asks permission to honor the endurance of her family. Each poem is a plea, teach her how to do this: live. To live how the other women who came before her could not: free.