"Dark Bird grows quietly 'toward something true', the struggle with our demons, especially, the demon of our silence. Its vulnerability roots deeply through an impersonal spiritual journey. These poems slowly expand and blossom leaving you with 'something stronger than hope'."

-Edgar Gabriel Silex, author of Acts of Love

"I'm walking toward something true/something green I can taste," writes Sam Schmidt in Dark Bird, a meditation on urgent subjects such as climate and government, as well as a record of one man's grappling with paternal legacy. Throughout this unusual book, Schmidt's skill steadies the reader while poetic shapeshifting makes turning the pages a complete pleasure."

-Natasha Saje, author of

The Future Will Call You Something Else