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