The text is by Emmett Williams and the illustrations are by Tom Wasmuth. Each page contains four lines of poetry. The upper right corner of each page is filled with black step-like forms. As the poem becomes more complex, the black areas grow larger black areas that gradually recede altogether from the page. The poems in turn also become simpler in form. The note in the back of the book states that "the cover illustrates the intention of the artist...to realize this intention the reader may cut out the black area of each page and remove the cover photograph." -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.