Twelve Pink Roses came into being as a direct result of the twelve roses that sprung up outside my writer's window from God's mercy and grace. A previous Asian family had lived in this garden and planted seeds that now bloom near us. In the back of my mind, I may also have been thinking of the twelve tribes of Israel that God mentions in the three Revelations. These are tribes that should revere one another and not fear one another through nationalistic and tribal fragmentation that lead to violence. The poems and vignettes that are included--both mine and my Aunt Nuzhat's--and reflect the desire to unite people not through fright but through understanding of one another's similarities and differences alike. We feel and sense the loss of sacred human life everywhere as much as we feel our love for our Maker and all the blessed humanity with diversity, which He has given us to cherish from a distance while making peace with ourselves and God. In between writings, trips, and viewings of societal changes, I would occasionally see a jubilant redbird, and take its picture with much joy in my heart in times of sorrow. Those poems are also included with vignettes from Life's University.