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Six Ft. Swells celebrates twenty years of publishing. The press continues to publish the poets who've had the guts to put their heartaches and hangovers on display. The poems in this anthology are gripping, sensual, uninhibited, laugh-out loud funny, gritty and gorgeous. Twenty poets published by Six Ft. Swells between 2005-2025 are between these 170 pages, representing the best this pirate publishing crew has put out. Writers include; Jake St. John, Wolfgang Carstens, William Taylor Jr., Mela Blust, Will Staple, Madeline Levy, Todd Cirillo, Mike Martin, Amber Decker, Noel Kroeplin, Elle Wrathall, Marilyn Souza, Bill Gainer, Ann Menebroker, Sue McElligott, Matt Amott, Lizzie Wann, Carey Floyd, Julie Valin, Dan Hoagland.
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Twenty years is a milestone to celebrate for most things, this includes friendship and small presses. Three Poets Walk Into A Bar… celebrates both. It is the first collection that spotlights all three founders together Todd Cirillo, Julie Valin and Matt Amott. In these poems, the reader will recognize common moments of heart pounding anticipation, soul-sucking heartbreak, encouraging first glances, last moments and deep longing, rain-soaked redemption and watching life fade past. These poems are about that which we love most: partners, friends, exes, family, corner bars, cold drinks and you, the reader. So step up to the bar, grab a cocktail, open the book and become part of the celebration. |
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“What I love about Todd’s poetry is its ability to make me laugh out loud, feel loved or heartbroken or like I’ve pre-gamed for a party I wasn’t invited to but craved to be a part of. Reading DISPOSABLE DARLINGS creates a sensation that these poems happened to me. Todd is abundantly clever in his wordplay and metaphors, without being over the top. This is a book I read over and over again—while at a bar, traveling, in the park, stuck in traffic. Take a moment to read “Useful Poetry,” because I strongly suggest you make good use of this book in typical and potentially suggestive ways, because I have, and I love every minute of it.”
— Linzi Garcia, author of Thank You |
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"Todd Cirillo is the best American poet hammering out clean, honest lines. His newest book KISSES FROM A STRAIGHT RAZOR represents poetry without smoke and mirrors, stripped down to its barest essentials—where everyday, ordinary language is transformed into high art. This book is a line drawn in the sand, a declaration of war, a benchmark of where modern poetry stands. Forget Charles Bukowski—have you read poetry by Todd Cirillo?"
—Wolfgang Carstens, Epic Rites Press, 2020 |
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Three For The Road brings together the powerhouse poets of Wolfgang Carstens, Todd Cirillo and Rob Plath for this limited edition book. Three distinct styles from tough to tender fill this book with humor, desolation, heartbreak and happiness. The poetry within is unmatched in modern poetry. --Epic Rites Press, 2018
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Todd Cirillo's book Burning the Evidence is filled with snapshot observations from his Polaroid eye for detail, thieves' ear for dialogue, and optimistic attempts at love and affection in all situations. Cirillo accomplishes a rare feat; he makes poetry relatable and accessible to every person. In these poems, he lays his heart bare on the bar, sometimes stupidly, other times sacrificially, but always sincerely. Some poems are punches to the gut, others are chocolates on the pillow or the last glimpse of red taillights fading away. Despite the disasters in life and love, Cirillo finds beauty "forever shining down on the whole filthy set up" and after reading this book, you will too. --Epic Rites Press, 2017 |
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Todd Cirillo's poems in Sucker's Paradise come hurling at you through the window, with no way to sidestep the pain or pleasure of them. They are full of busted hopes and kisses to the cheek, humor and hangovers, flowers at midnight, and hearts that take the beating. It is a collection of Cirillo's life itself--a full-bore run to find the tender moments that make us believe that paradise has been found. Sucker's Paradise holds all that we desire--the love, the belonging, the possibilities--even if we, too, eventually discover that "everything looks perfect from far away." So, call Cirillo a sucker or a saint, but he rolls with life's hard truths and turns them into poetic bonfires that we find ourselves gathering around, cold beer in hand, hearts ready for anything. --Six Ft. Swells Press, 2012 |
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Roxy is After Hours Poetry; when the lights go down and the memory of last call has faded into the exhaled smoke of a bummed cigarette – Roxy comes to life. The poems are rooted in the street, caress (no slam) the frailties of the human relationship, lean toward the erotic and show that honest poetry, feelings and emotions, cannot be confined by political correctness. In fact, Roxy is not a politically correct collection. Cirillo, Gainer and Staple don’t tell those gentle lies. --R.L. Crow Publications, 2003 "...comes along three poets who write from their perspective of life. Staple reminds us how "few the nights content of heart/to sit with a friend/in one candle's light", Gainer writes that, "you can beat the fight out of someone/but to kill the will/was to shatter the angels" and Cirillo, in the poet Rumi's expansive way says, "I'm getting that big-feeling again"...You don't have to be a poet to love these poems. You just have to have a heart beating behind your ribcage." --Ann Menebroker, poet |
The above titles have been published by the following presses, please support them, they are the good ones: Epic Rites Press, Six Ft. Swells Press, Rattlesnake Press, Lummox Press, Totem Press