In this daring book of poems, Albert DeGenova takes us on a personal journey through the physical, sensual world, viewed through the lens of desire. His poems, always unfolding in the present moment, vividly describe interactions that range from loving and intimate to misdirected and even destructive. While this is a world in which intimacy and connection can be approached but never fully realized, DeGenova delivers a completely satisfying piece of work. Like the relationship described in the poem "Intimacy Cocktail," Black Pearl is a "well-blended cocktail of sweat and sex and tears and foibles served over ice." -Mike Puican, poet and Board President/Guild Literary Complex