It’s Publication Day for The Rent Eats First!

Grab a copy of Eric Sirota’s collection.

We have limited SIGNED copies still available!

ABOUT THE BOOK

With a captivating blend of serious urgency and sarcastic wit, The Rent EATS First moves through personal stories and cultural moments to develop a broad picture of systemic inequality. Sirota interweaves his personal experiences as a public interest lawyer, representing low income tenants, with biting critique on the broader social and governmental systems that breed disparities. This collection reminds us that the political is emotional as Sirota shares personal struggles with mental health, self-image, and relationships in the face of social crisis.

Through dynamic and poignant form, Sirota conveys the chaos of an ineffectual, discriminatory system. An earnest look at the difficulties of fighting a system from within, The Rent EATS First is a collection that needs to be read.

PRAISE FOR ERIC

The Rent Eats First is a courthouse diorama with unfettered self-awareness—what if foreclosure comes for more than just the home? We are told “the only difference between a sword and a plowshare is what you’re cutting.” Sirota inhabits several voices, each a blade—where are we aimed, what is aimed at us?

—Junious ‘Jay’ Ward, Composition

In The Rent Eats First, everyone must stand trial. Sins do not discriminate; even god must atone. Sirota balances commentary on housing law and political unrest with comedy. The Rent Eats First is a demonstration against landlords, property value, and the legal system.

—jason b. crawford, Year of the Unicorn Kidz

All rise for The Rent Eats First. Sirota breaks down the language of law and reforges it into a revolutionary manifesto. Satirical and absurd, Sirota’s poems are blades. Every page, he sharpens a new one and hands it to you. If these poems don’t get you psyched to smash capitalism, I don’t know what will.

—Zach Goldberg, I’d Rather Be Destroyed

SHOP ERIC

“Love arrives exactly when love is supposed to, and love leaves exactly when love must.”

Don’t miss this week’s Best of Button playlist. Today’s additions: E.L. and Lily Myers! Congrats Poets!

Come back each week to see our newest and most popular videos.

While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, or check out our newest release from Zach Goldberg!

It’s Publication Day for I’d Rather Be Destroyed!

Grab a copy of Zach Goldberg’s collection.

We have limited SIGNED copies still available!

ABOUT THE BOOK

Earnest and darkly funny, this collection rebuilds the self from its broken pieces. Playing with dynamic and experimental forms, Goldberg explores modern Jewish identity, familial and cultural inheritances, and managing mental health. Its historical and religious allusions navigate modern and personal conversations, reflecting how we embrace and reject the legacies that shape us. Sharp and captivating, I’d Rather Be Destroyed’s honesty and artistry make it a must-read.

PRAISE FOR ZACH

Zach Goldberg writes like an inventor, making the page his play ground. I’d Rather Be Destroyed is as brilliant as it is easeful. Each page is a home we are invited into. Each line is a table we sit down at, grateful.

—Andrea Gibson, You Better Be Lightning

Dexterous and innovative, Goldberg’s poems traverse between intimate struggles to geopolitical conflicts. Moving from aching present to past and back again, these poems reach towards the possibility of healing, inviting us to reach for “Home, the place you leave / to find.” A beautiful debut!

—Julia Kolchinsky Dasbach, 40 Weeks

I’d Rather Be Destroyed is an intricate map shepherding its reader into possibilities of home. Goldberg shows us that diaspora can be a nesting doll of ghosts, that correlations and revelations share a piercing proximity; a split-atom I understand more through its blaze.

—Junious ‘Jay’ Ward, Composition

SHOP ZACH

“Sometimes, I look up at the night sky and it reminds me that people and planets aren’t so different. We all have an orbit, our energy decides what comes into our atmosphere.We all have our own gravity.”

Don’t miss this week’s Best of Button playlist. Today’s additions: Porsha Olayiwola, Reagan Myers, Neil Hilborn, Sarah Kay, and Patrick Roche! Congrats Poets!

Come back each week to see our newest and most popular videos.

While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, or check out our newest release from Topaz Winters!

“I know a few things about healing, it’s not a good employee. It shows up when it’s ready, only works when it wants to.”

Don’t miss this week’s Best of Button playlist. Today’s additions: Stella B, Sammi, Melissa Lozada Oliva, Sumbodies Mama, and Edwin Bodney! Congrats Poets!

Come back each week to see our newest and most popular videos.

While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, or check out our newest release from Topaz Winters!

“I know a few things about tomorrow. It’s kind of like a shadow, it’s hard to see when the sun isn’t bright but regardless it is there.”

Don’t miss this week’s Best of Button playlist. Today’s additions: Chelsea Guevara, Liv, Shasparay, Lyrical Faith, Meccamorphosis, Rain, Darius Simpson, and Scout Bostley! Congrats Poets!

Come back each week to see our newest and most popular videos.

While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, or check out our newest release from Topaz Winters!

“Love arrives exactly when love is supposed to, and love leaves exactly when love must.”

Don’t miss this week’s Best of Button playlist. Today’s additions: Zach Goldberg, Maggie Smith, Mica Rich, Clint Smith, and Sarah Kay! Congrats Poets!

Come back each week to see our newest and most popular videos.

While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, or check out our newest release from Edythe Rodriguez!

“Maybe love stays, maybe love can’t. Maybe love shouldn’t.”

Don’t miss this week’s Best of Button playlist. Today’s additions: Hailey Tran, QuinKillin’, Thabani Tshuma, Delia Moses, Reagan Myers, and Blythe Baird! Congrats Poets!

Come back each week to see our newest and most popular videos.

While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, or check out our newest release from Edythe Rodriguez!

I wondered if it was you and the one taken from my body to soon or perhaps too late returned only to shepherd you home.”

Don’t miss this week’s Best of Button playlist. Today’s additions: Riley Zahn, Art Collins, Ty Chapman, and Blythe Baird! Congrats Poets!

Come back each week to see our newest and most popular videos.

While you’re here, head over to the Button store to check out our books and merch, or check out our newest release from Edythe Rodriguez!