From the outskirts of the fevered empire, and the embers that were its heart, Moritz sings us to our selves — our failures, our cruelties, our stupidities, and beauty which even now astonishes and leaves us breathless. Genuine political poetry is immensely difficult. Moritz succeeds, not because his list of atrocities is longer or more shocking, but because his vision is underwritten — not whitewashed — by an ecstatic lyricism that knows evanescence is the only enduring truth.
Praise for Rest on the Flight to Egypt:
“A.F. Moritz’s Rest on the Flight Into Egypt reflects the soul’s reach extending to different and varying spheres of spiritual and geographical spaces. His voice is one of true depth and intelligence, capturing rhythms that are at once colloquial and neo-classical.” — Jury’s Comments, 2000 Governor General’s Award for Poetry