Death by Design: cage | stage, #1

By Werner Schmidt

'Surrendering his paper planes to the winds of public opinion', Werner Schmidt, musician, writer, performer, publishes his debut collection of sixty poems, in a first of three volumes. As a fan of reality, he likes to embrace his perception of what is, and then imagine new possibilities.

Volume I, death by design – a title that describes his awareness of the mysterious, reveals his openness to experiences such as a trip to the art museum, shopping mall, and the moments before the Big Bang.

A mystic berry that pervades culture. An apocalypse, as predicted by satellite TV. The frightful joy of bringing children into this world. A living will, involving the Namib desert. The cultural evolution of cave dwellers. A story of stories. Soul fishers hooked on dogs playing cards. Ideas for constructive sex. Inspiration from taxi slogans. He gets a little blue, time traveling back to the beginning, followed by a poem on time. Existential questioning. Observing his life partner, 'stirring the oatmeal of their lives' and finally, his father, Schmidt rounds off this volume on life, death, loss, love, solitude and togetherness.

Bare feet in the universal sandbox … 'a cool wind caresses my faith.'

Schmidt, with bold uncertainty, goes where he has never gone before. Skeptical, ironic, questioning, he is 'like a snake eating itself', playing hide and seek.

'Brown-feathered sprites' and the use of plain speech are regular companions to the poet and to you, the reader.

Enjoy flowing, clear, contemporary poetry.

• Language: English
• Publisher: werner h. schmidt
• Release date: Nov 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781540163370

Book preview

IGNITION SEQUENCE START

Are religion, philosophy, science, and so on, the launch pads?

Poetry the rocket ships? Joined by many who live life like this?

Imagination the fuel?

Are you hopping aboard, dear reader, to play intergalactic hide and seek – grounded beyond gravity –  with new frontiers ahead?

CAPTAIN’S* PROLOGUE

A prologue is optional. A Captain’s* Prologue is mandatory if one wants to take one’s readers in orbits around this little universe, filled with strange interstellar stuff, but mostly space. You know – that nothing.

This collection will never feel complete. Perhaps because it is my first and one of a number of virginities I’ve lost in recent years. Maybe because I keep waiting for approval from The Impossibles, even after surrendering these paper planes to the winds of public opinion.

Have I given myself sufficient permission to play with these poems and to patch my wounded ship – with images – mid-voyage?

Please let me be mid-voyage? So much I still want to do.

One of the things I love about writing, and poetry, in particular, is that it is both inspired by and part of my life – a snake eating itself.

Anyway.

Time for some bare feet and guitar. Let me sing songs for all seasons in our cool backyard sandbox with you – my lovelies. Let's watch bubbles, birds and planes until they disappear.

* The Captain is also a passenger (another snake eating itself)

STUCK ON YOU

Steam rises from my cupped hands. Sickle Moon dances on my black rooibos tea. Dirty, orange City Night Sky. Trying not to blink. What am I looking at?

On a slow, hot summer afternoon we watched our little prince flash from his favourite branch and smack down onto