Outskirts Press, INC.

Where the damned come to play...

Edward V. Lacina spent most of his childhood on Long Island, New York. Like for so many others, it has been a struggle to balance the passion of his arts with the contrasting harshness of life's responsibilities. In searching for answers to the questions raised by this dichotomy and so many others, over the past decade he found himself delving deeper and deeper into the darkest parts of the mind. For so long, he thought there was something wrong with him for having these feelings and thoughts, desiring to understand and experience these things and needing to both express them and cope with the contrasting emotions. The journey began; traveling between extremes as he slowly began to express his innermost thoughts and frustrations, something strange happened. He began to realize that many people around him were experiencing similar things, although most wouldn't dare express it openly out of fear of being judged, criticized or looked upon differently. This small circle of expression expanded and allowed him to venture deeper into the darkness. Slowly, by revealing this internal struggle a different intention began to emerge, a desire to let others know that they are not wrong nor are they alone in the darkness. These are the poems born from the exploration of the variety of emotions and experiences along this journey to date.