"Piero" chronicles the explosive life of a Latino icon, gay poet, playwright, and actor Miguel Piero, whose urban poetry is often regarded as a precursor to rap and hip-hop. After serving time in a hard-core Sing-Sing jail for minor thefts and drug selling, Piero turned his prison experiences into the 1974 Tony-nominated play Short Eyes. The resulting recognition and popularity were too much for the Latino bad-boy genius, who withdrew to New York City's seedier neighborhoods.