Underwater Fistfight

underwater fistfight horror fantasy pirate poetry
by Matt Betts
  • $12.95 Paperback
    ISBN: 978-1935738824

    US only, email
    for international rates


Poet. Pirate. It’s all the same really. They both pillage, plunder, drink rum, look for treasure, and sometimes, after too many drinks, they’re known to throw a right hook or two. But that’s the beauty of poetry and piracy-it’s unhinged, a stream of emotions that make you laugh, cry, bleed, bruise, and eat oranges to prevent scurvy. It’s an adventure. It’s feeling the wind on your face from the sea or the page. It’s tasting the salt in the ocean or in your tears. But most importantly, it’s the experience of getting from one port to another, one page to the next, killing one more siren and murdering just one more darling.

You see, piracy is about rules, and the number one rule is that there are no rules. Pirate-poets live for the journey, they do what has to be done to survive, and hope that karma, or a Kraken, doesn’t come around and bite them in the arse. Poetry is like that, too. It’s a fleeting moment, an image, that the writer is hoping will leave you breathless, bruised, and stranded on an island.

Underwater Fistfight does just that, because Matt Betts is a pirate-poet who takes science fiction and throws it in the brig with horror while he sits outside the cell, laughing as they duke it out. He’s a regular Davy Jones, a sailor’s devil, claiming the lives of these poems and dragging them down to the locker to dissect, inspect, and sift through their stories and characters like plunder.

What They’re Saying About Underwater Fistfight

“With a wicked sense of humor, a wicked style, and, at times, just plain wickedness, Underwater Fistfight, is a rare combination of poetic genius and laugh-out-loud brilliance. Not to be missed.”
—Bram Stoker nominee Peter Adam Salomon, author of All Those Broken Angels

“Just when you begin to feel slightly disturbed, Betts gets you laughing again…a mix of wit, dark tales, and vivid imagery.”
—Kristen Margiotta, Illustrator Gustav Gloom series

“Matt Betts weaves wonderfully ornate geeky tales through his poetry.  A smorgasbord so deep, yet light enough to consume over lunch. Bravo!”
—Len Peralta, Illustrator, Munchkin and Co-Host of CreatureGeek

“Quirky is not only one of my favorite words, but what I also strive to be. In my life and in my musical/TV projects. I’m happy to see someone else out there spreading some good quirk around. But, what strikes me, is that in a fantasy/sci-fi world of Deathbots, zombies, mad scientists and monsters, there can be so many touching, even poignant beats. (Also, something I strive to do in my work.) Serve up your quirky with a side of heart and soul. It’s not an easy path to walk. Pee Wee did it, The Shazzbots do it, and so does this book. Trust me, I would know, I’m a Space Captain. Underwater Fistfight… Come for the Deathbots, stay for the feels.”
—Ian “CAPTAIN CAPTAIN” Hummel, The Shazzbots

“Betts’ poetry lures you closer with its quirkiness and whimsy and then delivers a dark and bewildering insight on the world, on death, on life, on murder and uncertainty. It is oddly like walking along in an amusement park and finding yourself alone in a dark room with only your thoughts and fears. Yet, as unsettling as that might be I found myself coming back for more.”
—Leslie J. Anderson, author of  An Inheritance of Stone

“Every time I open this book, I re-read various passages in new and different lights; I purposely like to thumb through when I’m in different moods, to experience Betts’ situational objectivity through a variety of landscapes—underwater fistfight indeed! This isn’t a must-read; it’s a must-read-over-and-over.”
—Jerry Macaluso, Effects Designer (Toxic Avenger II&III), Producer (Night Skies) and Founder of Pop Culture Shock Collectibles, Inc.

“I’ve always told people that Matt Betts is a poet for people who hate poetry, but I’ll be damned if Underwater Fistfight doesn’t prove he stands as a heck of a reminder of what got me to love poetry in the first place.”
—Anton Cancre, Cemetery Dance