In response to the success of the original edition of SELECTED POEMS, Concrete Mist Press is pleased to release SELECTED POEMS: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT...an enhanced, enlarged, expanded edition of the original volume, with 172 added pages...82 additional poems...and illustrations by internationally acclaimed artist Janne Karlsson. This book, edited by Eileen Murphy, contains poems chosen from the 5 decade career of this highly influential minimalist icon. 
Praise for this book includes:\n“Stark, painful, vulnerable, between the spaces of his lines, John Yamrus reveals his true self.”\nMaxim W. Furek, rock journalist and paranormal researcher\n"John Yamrus chips away at the clay of life leaving only honest words carved into the pages of time."\nJake St. John, author of Night Full Of Diamonds\n"In spite of his extensive catalog, John Yamrus doesn’t identify as a poet . He’s like Schrödinger’s cat in that he is and isn’t at the same time, depending on definition and time of day. Without titles, Yamrus’ words are sparse yet plentiful. Each poem a morsel, satisfying but leaving you saying, Why not another?"\nTim Heerdink, author of Final Flight as the Fog Becomes Night\n“Yamrus’s poems endure.”\nDon Botch, Reading Eagle\n"John Yamrus is a poet who asks very little. Read the work, it speaks for itself."\nTohm Bakelas, author of Punk Poets Are Pretentious Assholes and editor of Between Shadows Press

Selected Poems: The Director's Cut

Literature & Fiction

Yamrus, John

Literary

Concrete Mist Press

After the huge success of his acclaimed trilogy of slim memoirs (FIVE DOGS, RMA and MEMORY LANE), John Yamrus returns to poetry with SMALL TALK, which continues and expands the scope of his highly innovative, conversational verse.

Small Talk

Poetry

Poetry. Todd Moore, in his review of DOING CARTWHEELS ON DOOMSDAY AFTERNOON, writes that "Yamrus's doomsday isn't the big one with all the fires and the quakes and the tsunamis and the wind. Instead, his doomsday is all about the little apocalypses of life. The day to day failures that mark us as mortal." Rob Plath, in the introduction to DOOMSDAY, writes that "one recurrent subject in John's poems, subtle or obvious, is endurance." Both Moore and Plath hit the nail squarely upon its head. DOOMSDAY is as much about the day to day turmoil that breaks us down, as it is about the human spirit to endure. The pairing of "cartwheels" with "doomsday" is pure Yamrus gold, a testament to the abundance of laughter in which John approaches his own "little apocalypses of life."

Doing Cartwheels on Doomsday Afternoon

Epic Rites Press

“There are a lot of people these days who write poems. Poetry of all grades. Libidinous lovers who drip syrupy, sentimental quatrains. Angry young men, and women, who bludgeon us over the head with deliberate obscurity. These people use poetry as catharsis. They are not poets... John writes because he can’t NOT write. It’s his blood, his pneuma, his manna. If you told him, “John, no more writing,” he would, being the nice guy he is, go quietly, but unmistakably, mad as a hatter. He sees, you see. That’s what a poet does. Some of them rip the veil in two, and grab the back of our head, and force us to face their version of reality. John lifts the curtain aside, and invites us to look. He takes an instant, shaves it clean of fuzzy perceptions, and hands it to us gently, saying, “See? Do you see?” No masks here. No fancy footwork. No fierce muscled obscurity. Just the same things you and I see every day, shorn of their disguises.” —from the introduction by Anita Wynn

One Step at a Time

Publishamerica Inc

In a world that is hell-bent on gobbling itself up, the poetry of John Yamrus is a welcome break from all this great crashing about and railing against all that is wrong. The poems in this collection have an easy comfort to them. I realize that sounds trite and I certainly don’t mean to trivialize John’s work. In the broad spectrum of poetry, a crazy patchwork quilt of styles and themes at best, those who notice, much less capture, the everyday matters of the heart are, to me, a rare breed. Sure, we all must rage against the light at some point, but that’s not all there is. Most of the time it’s just little events that seemingly dull the senses, yet it’s these very moments that are the glue that holds the whole mess together. How we deal with this really says who we are.

Blue Collar: New Poems

Hot on the heels of his hugely popular memoirs RMA and MEMORY LANE, internationally known poet John Yamrus shines his light on the five dogs he's shared his life with over the years. Touching, tender, heartfelt and funny, FIVE DOGS is a wonderful reminder of why they're known as man's best friend.

Five Dogs

Capping a career that is still going strong after more than 5 decades, with no end in sight, Concrete Mist Press is pleased to announce this first ever fully realized retrospective of the poetry of John Yamrus. The collection covers all aspects and periods of his work, from the noir-ish narrative poems, to the hugely influential, groundbreaking minimalism of recent years. With a perceptive and insightful introduction by editor Mish Murphy, this is the John Yamrus book serious lovers of modern poetry need to have.

Selected Poems

John Yamrus is a writer who shoots holes in everything he sees.

Memory Lane

Biographies & Memoirs

Regional U.S.

People (and other bad ideas)

Humor & Satire

Independently published

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