– dedicated to Dennis Cooper, our Bataille

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” – John 1:1 (NIV) :::: “Each poet says the same, which, however, is not the same, is the unique, we feel.” – Blanchot on Artaud, quoted by Derrida in “La parole soufflée” :::: “The pure work implies the disappearance of the poet as speaker, yielding his initiative to words, which are mobilized by the shock of their difference….” – Mallarmé, “Crisis in Poetry” :::: “Le vieux Paris n’est plus.” – Baudelaire, “Le Cygne” (read by Eva Le Gallienne) ::::