Letter from Ray Johnson, Black Mountain College, to Lorna Blaine, 101 East 85th Street, New York City, postmark February 18, 1947

Ray Johnson, "Letter from Ray Johnson, Black Mountain College, to Lorna Halper, 101 East 85th Street, New York City, postmark February 18, 1947". 1947. Page with written text on the left and right sides of the landscape style page, with an image pasted in the center. Text written in ink, left side: "monday morning / Dear Lorna, / When you wake from / a long sleep, is it / not as though you are / in a dream where you / wake? Sleep is a necessity. The bats / in caves hang upside / down at day. the / bear sleeps a long / time. Birds in / nests, animals in / cages, people in / beds - all require / sleep. and in the / 20th century we / were shown that / our unconscious / is working as we / sleep. Every day / should be creation." Text, right side: "To use the mind to / design and order. To / push and pull and / fight and place. all / should be conscious / thought. For only / then can we achieve. / But to sleep. / a cardinal in the / white snow. Red- / headed woodpeckers / on the shadow sides / of trees. Sand pipers / on the vast sea shore. / Audubon seeking all / the birds and / creatures and that / is how I feel today. / Love, RAY / I send a Klee with cracks" Verso: backside of letter is the envelope. Two square block spirals overlapping with one in black and the other in blue crayon. A purple President Jefferson three cent stamp located on center right edge.