Praise, Pain & Lust

By Asale Lara

True to its title, this volume chroniclesthe journey through the darker regions of the mind and the valleys of the heart inthe quest for redemption. These tales of a neo-romantics 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 themidwest, Asale Lara unleashes his first book of poetry, Praise, Pain & Lust.

Asales 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 Americas dark poet for the twenty-first century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Feb 28, 2008
• ISBN: 9781467866668

Asale Lara

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.   Feel free to email me at [e-mail]

Book preview

© 2008 Asale Lara. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 2/25/2008

ISBN: 978-1-4343-6803-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4678-6666-8 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Contents

Abuelo’s Curse

Amber Horizon

Be Easy, Love

The Beautiful Woman

Beauty at a Distance

Big Sugar

Black Light

Black Tone

Blue Tone

Blazing Chains of Love

Blood of Innocents

Boy

Brave Adventurer

Canvas

Celestine Sorrow

Charise

A Child’s Lament

Conejita de Chocolate

Conjoined

Cough Drops

Darkest Hearts

Death of Love

Deep

Dirt Road Dreams

Do You Believe in Love?

Dove’s Pride

Dreaming

Dreams of Love

Droplets

Easter Sunday

Eggshells

Giggles

Goddess of Illusion

Guitarra

Haunted Heart Halloween

Hell Fruit

Hold Me Now or Lose Me Forever

Hope Fades Away

Howling

I Await

I Burn Myself

I Love You Like a Madman

I Tried To Shine For You

I Woke Up From a Dream

Idealization

Intellectual

Is God Love?

Juxtaposed

La Paz

Leaving

The Legacy of Quetzalcoatl

Let Me Eat Cake

Let Us Dance (Stepping Out)

Let Us Dance (Staying In)

Let’s Support the Troops

Let Your Darkness Shine

Limbo Town

Locos Como Nosotros

A Love Letter

Martyr

Me Dejaste Solo

Midnight Hunger

Misheard

Naked

Needed

Neon Rainbow

Neverend

New Friend

Nights at the Park

No Beauty Like Mine

Of Rivers

Omen

Once Again

One Night

Origami

Pagan Goddess

Pile of Boxes

Princesa Ladrona

Quiet Again

Ravenous Rhapsody

Reformed

Reincarnation

Risk

Runaway Darkness

Sacrifice

Saint Joey

Second Skin

Security

Somos Reyes

Stay Far Away

The Strange, the Beautiful, and the Lonely

Stubborn

Suicide Kiss

Sunlight

Surreal

Sweet Devastation

Swimming

Symphony

Thoughts at 1 AM

Through the Passage

Tie You Up

Tiny Kisses

Truth

Unfair

Virgin Snow

When I Drive

Where Once Was None

White Mantra

Wilting Flower

Without Regret

You Don’t Know Ritta Like I Know Ritta

Young Cowboys Often Die

Your Moon

About the author

Additional acknowledgements

Dedication

There is one person who has inspired me beyond any other

My seed, my pride, Sandra my daughter

This is for you, silly little monkey

Perhaps if we’re fortunate we’ll even see some money

If not, no matter, for the true purpose,

Is a chance to show the world what lies beneath our surface

Something tangible for you to hold when I am gone

Not necessarily to heaven, I might just fly down to San Juan

Know that giving life to you gave life to me

All part of the divine synchronistic circuitry

Your humor, your laughter, your genuine caring

Makes me rejoice it is my genes you are sharing

I see the love of God in your moving compassion

The world would be better off moving in your fashion

It is for all of these reasons that I love you most

And are the first in this volume of whom I boast

In case others wonder why the dedication is not in prose

It would defeat the purpose of a poetry book, don’t you suppose?

Abuelo’s Curse

Realmente no nos hemos conocido

Cada vez en cuando nos hemos visto

But as country road dreams tear at my self-esteem

Didn’t come from a vato who stayed clean

Neither of us was ever scared to take a chance

Traveled through life by the seat of my pants

If it seems that I’m hell bent to self-destruct

Soy otro sinvergüenza that doesn’t give a fuck

I know you did right by your kids for the most part

But I inherited your vagabond heart

Así que si parece que soy muy desmadroso

Es que tus genes fueron muy generosos

I tried to be a good dad in case you noticed

If I made you proud, you never let me know this

No se porque fue tan jodida nuestra comunicación

Tal vez mi acento pocho o no mas la tradición

Me acuerdo visitándote cuando estabas en el hospital

La flaco andaba tras de ti y te veías mal

Tenía mi reina conmigo porque había tomado uno de tus consejos

Cuando era niño, me dijiste que pinte angelitos negros

Cuando la conociste your shocked countenance was golden

Esta bien oscura observaste sobre mi nena joven

Pero como ese amor tu pronto moriste

Just another example that Abuelo’s curse todavía existe

Como usted, yo tuve mi porción

De viejas adictas a la destrucción

It’s not like I didn’t try to find my queen

Pero todas terminan igual al fin

Yo se que no soy inocente pero no siempre tengo la culpa

Seems we’ve always been cursed when it comes to the rucas

I’m not telling you this because I miss you, si apenas te conocí

Pero quiero que sepas that you’re still alive inside of me

I’m still living with Abuelo’s curse

It skipped a generation and just got worse

No se como no toco a mi papi

Pues yo creo que ese chavo just got lucky

Amber Horizon

Somewhere between yesterday and tomorrow

Somewhere that is not quite today

Somewhere between happiness sorrow

Between feeling dark and feeling gay

I want to see my tears turn into wine

I want to see all the beauties grind

I want to see tiny bubbles called pain

Pop and tingle as they tickle my brain

On the horizon I see an amber moon rising

Enigmatic glow that I don’t know amber horizon

I’m swimming in an endless ocean

The waves are crashing against my face

Intoxicate me with their potion

The power of amazing grace

Rose petals scattered throughout

Seem to dance as waves whip about

Wild winds give me a chill

Make me shiver and give me a thrill

On the horizon I see an amber moon rising

Enigmatic glow that I don’t know amber horizon

I’ve been thrown onto the beach

I’m wet and I’ve been ravaged

Reason’s just out of reach

In the life of a modern savage

Adrenaline pumps through my veins

Pleasure takes hold of the reins

And there’s a whisper in my ear

Reminding me that I’m not here

On the horizon I see an amber moon rising

Enigmatic glow that I don’t know amber horizon

Be Easy, Love

Those lips, those hips

Look at that hair down to the twisty tips

I can’t wait to get to caress that face

When you come over to my place

For some pristine bean cuisine

And a strong but gentle embrace

I’ve got to convince you I’m worth the drive, keep that hope alive

Because when you arrive I’ll show you how dreams survive

The mundane eating away at the brain

As we strain to stay sane

But I’ll ease your pain fan the flame

Go against the grain until you call my name

First I’ll feed you to let you know my heart’s your home

Then I’ll rub shoulders to get you to that zone

And when you’re lying prone

I’ll ease up your shirt while I work

To make sure those muscles don’t hurt

For a minute I’ll be quiet and simply let my hands flirt

Ease your shirt off while you lay still to preserve the unknown

You’ll have all my attention, I’ll even turn off my phone

I’ll give you soft little kisses up and down your back

Let your soft little noises tell me where else you want to be kissed at

When you turn your head just enough I’ll dive in to kiss you deep

You’ll feel my tongue gently creep over yours and underneath

I’ll lift myself up so you can turn around with your passion unbound

I’ll let you take your bra down to show the goodness that I’ve found

I’ll bring my kisses lower so I may suckle

All that goodness that causes trouble

They look like D’s or maybe double

Reach around back and grab your bubble

What happens next is completely up to