The Crystal TextClark Coolidge In the summer of 1982, Clark Coolidge received an unexpected gift of a crystal; small, clear, entirely unexceptional, the crystal nonetheless provoked the poet into writing what has long been considered his masterpiece, The Crystal Text (1986). A durational poem composed over the course of 10 months, in daybook like entries of varying length, The Crystal Text is multifaceted and elusive, constantly interrogating itself. Is it a

familial discord

Part springtime journal (“why are there thorns

Maar als je de linzen op je bord aanziet voor een ziekte onder de microscoop

Published by Face Press in an edition of just 250 copies

trefzeker en liefdevol weergegeven

a publication by the Organism for Poetic Research

the liberation of the former European colonies

Bhanu Kapil

listening to Jazz with his stomach while military trains unload the wounded

Deze gedichten werden samengebracht in De dierkundige dichtoefeningen van Trijntje Fop (1955)

Pavel Khazanov

and voiced in the acid niceness of a work email