Why are we here?

We have asked ourselves this question since the dawn of language, and today we are no closer to an answer. Many of us have learned to push this question aside and simply indulge in life's pleasures. Others, like Rodolfo Leon, have become poets.

Prayers for a New Millennium is a collection of poems, each of which rises and falls with the ecstasy and heartbreak of being alive. Leon's words carry the reader through the thrill of passion, the pain of unrequited love, the mystery of death-and into the mind of God.

Each line is infused with a sincere...