Poor Claudia Can See Through Time, Aims Are Jack Spicer & Laura Henriksen

Small press publisher Poor Claudia is up to lots of good right now, having just released the first title in the unassuming but obviously exciting new publication series, Timeworm. IT'S JACK SPICER'S THE HOLY GRAIL:

Conceived in the spirit of generosity, the goal of Timeworm is simple: to put precious, rare, or costly books of poetry back within the reach of readers.

Wesleyan University Press and the Jack Spicer Estate were generous enough to trust us with this project. We owe them big time.

“The Holy Grail” was originally published 50 years ago by White Rabbit Press. It is composed of seven sections, each containing seven poems. Changing narrators, shifting time periods, the author’s use of jokes and lapsus linguae and folk songs, all conspire to create what Spicer called “an uncomfortable music.”

His friend Robin Blaser said it was more like a “cubist painting where you can’t get through the fucking frame.”

Sit down with the book and listen to the recording of Spicer himself reading it aloud on PennSound. Now, do that over and over until you feel a timeworm in your chest.

We can't wait to see this book, and look forward to all else in the capsule-gone-manifest.

Also up today as part of their gorgeous Crush PDF series is Seven Poems, by Laura Henriksen. "Then like a tractor, ride away, / I was changed, not the best way, not by / a long shot. It becomes background / sound underneath what / you’re listening to." Try to find a ride: