Phantoms in the Ark

Don Precosky teaches English at the College of New Caledonia and is the
co-editor of Four Realities: Poets of Northern B.C.

Phantoms in the Ark is a long poem by A.F. Moritz. It is presented in
tandem with a series of collages by Ludwig Zeller, which appear on the
pages facing the poem. The poem occupies the top half of each
odd-numbered page. The bottom contains Susana Wald’s Spanish
translation. I do not read or speak Spanish, so I cannot comment on her
translation.

The poem is a surrealistic, nightmare narrative about mechanization,
dismemberment, and fragmentation. It is presented so that most pages end
with a link or a transition, such as a colon or a question mark. Part of
the excitement (and this is an exciting, engrossing poem) is generated
by the question of what Moritz will do on the next page. It’s almost
always a surprise. Most of the poem is a speech by Sisyphus, who “had
to tell us everything / our hearts desired.” He then goes on to
deliver a message no one could possibly welcome.

The already powerful writing is enhanced by Ludwig Zeller’s equally
powerful collages. These collages present a combination of machine parts
and bits and pieces from living things in which the mechanical things
always seem to dominate. Moritz says “the animal is the suffering
residue.” The mechanical parts are usually fairly threatening things:
knives, grinders, and other pointy objects. Together with the poem they
serve as a warning that the world is growing increasingly mechanical and
that humanity is in danger of being swallowed by the machine—indeed,
of becoming a machine: “I know / there is no inner life, no seeing of
God, / only combination and growth without cause.” This is a good and
important book.