In his most personal collection yet, Omar Sabbagh brings a concentrated
gaze to bear on turbulent emotions. Morning Lit is a deep and
sustained exploration of fatherhood, marriage and bereavement: of love
and its shadow side, which is loss. Crammed with symbolism, it is a work
of maturity both emotional and poetic.
-- Fiona Sampson
Omar Sabbagh offers his readers deeply contemplative--and even more
deeply felt--windows into both the seemingly relentless tensions and
nearly transcendent joys of family life. Sabbagh masterfully
demonstrates the full range of his poetic voice and craftsmanship,
choosing most often to approach profound tribulation and
self-interrogation within precisely contained rhymes and rhythms while
bursting effusively into wholly charming exaltations in celebration of
his daughter. Here, nothing is valued more than kindness, yet, with its
abundant references to philosophy, psychology, history, and economic
theory, Morning Lit: Portals After Alia reminds us that being present
and open to the struggles and wonders of our own lives requires every
resource of mind and heart we have.
-- Kathleen Graber, author of The River Twice Here is a paean to
fatherhood in all its terrifying joy and vulnerability. It evokes the
gratitude of the born-again parent, the wonder of being programmed 'to
love unconditionally', of being compelled to 'agree, and agree, and
agree', and of acknowledging that one's love is now one's 'only, final
fear'. Luminous, tender and gently delirious, Omar Sabbagh's poems
celebrate an awakening into a new sacredness.
-- Arundhathi Subramaniam
Bursting with thoughtful and ebullient verse [that] spills-over with
warmth and joy at the birth of a daughter, Alia. Omar Sabbagh adds his
distinctive voice to the literature of fatherhood.
-- Amy Wack, Poetry Editor, Seren Books
