from The Whole of the Book of Ephraim:
(32) (I)
He didn't cavil. He was the revelation
(Or if we had created him, then we were).
He and his partner, David Jackson, make a Ouija board that connects to spirits or 'patrons'-- first Ephraim then Mirabell... along with Wallace Stevens, family members, etc. The whole thing is written in verse, describing the experience (which spanned many years, I believe) only occasionally interrupted by what the spirit says (which is all in caps).
(53)
Making clear (to anyone with eyes)
That blockhead nudities encipher
Obligations it is bliss to suffer;
That selves in animal disguise
Light the way to Tania's goal:
Stories whose glow we see our lives bathed in--
The mere word "animal" a skin
Through which its old sense glimmers, of the soul
(72)
I WAS NEVER ONE FOR BLURBS
TAKE WITH A GRAIN OF SALT JM SUCH PRAISE
A SCRIBE SITS BY YOU CONSTANTLY THESE DAYS
DOING WHAT HE MUST TO INTERWEAVE
YOUR LINES WITH MEANINGS YOU CANNOT CONCEIVE
Parts of this, in other words-- a rotten
Thing to insinuate-- have been ghostwritten?
(80)
Our famous human dignity? I-Thou?
The dirty underwear of overkill.
This aligns with what Spicer and Blaser are talking about--dictation-- though Merrill seems to want to be in control a bit more. Hence all the verse that isn't dictation--that's detailing the practice, DJ, his thoughts, etc.
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