Praise, Pain & Lust

About the Book

True to its title, this volume chronicles the journey through the darker regions of the mind and the valleys of the heart in the quest for redemption.  These tales of a neo-romantic’s spiritual quest take the reader on a rollercoaster of spiritual highs and carnal depths presented in a variety of forms ranging from traditional sonnets to urban verse.  After years of musical and spoken word performances throughout the midwest, Asale Lara unleashes his first book of poetry, Praise, Pain & Lust. 

Asale’s bicultural heritage and Midwestern upbringing, as well as the various cultures surrounding him make themselves evident in this eclectic yet cohesive volume of work demonstrating enormous command of the English language while occasionally dipping into Spanglish.  The themes of romance, spirituality, and the heartache often associated with both provide a truly universal scope making Asale Lara America’s dark poet for the twenty-first century.

About the Author

I am Asale Lara and my book is the product of where I live.  I grew up in Rockford, Illinois, a large manufacturing town (until recently the second largest city in Illinois) in America’s heartland.  It is close to Chicago but far from being a suburb of it.  For this reason we often seem geographically invisible.  Growing up as the only Latino in most situations, whether at school or at hip hop and punk concerts I felt like an outsider.  I had a thick accent and a foreign upbringing that seemed to alienate my peers.  Like my town, I too had a certain degree of invisibility.  This led me to become determined to master the English language and be better at English than the “English” kids.  This introversion and linguistic development led to me finding my voice in the written word. Whether I was performing it live through musical and spoken word performances or simply documenting it on paper, the word came alive in me.  It became my outlet for venting hurt, my device for attaining affection, and my channel for praising God.  I embraced the mysteries of spirituality, new cultures, and romantic adventures, while navigating through them with the aid of this gift.  When I found myself experiencing the worse loss of my life, I knew that it would once again be the written word that would help me fill the void.  This book is the result, Praise, Pain & Lust.