CLAUDE PELOQUIN`S COLLECTION of prose pieces A Dive Into My Essence (Guernica, 94 pages, $10 paper) is an attempt to make himself "and [his] thoughts known to the general public." Peloquin also indicates that writing has helped him to know himself The author sees himself as a visionary who says what others don`t want to hear and is consequently often misunderstood. This misunderstanding may, however, also be the result of his almost obsessive tendencies toward generalization and self-contradiction. His style is bombastic, his statements - which he appears to see as truths are extravagant and, one suspects, deliberately rude. Sadly, the only consistent aspect of Peloquin`s book is its offensive attitude toward women. He expounds on what he obviously views as his accomplishments, which include bedding "carloads of women." For Peloquin women are collections of sex organs, objects for the poet`s use in his flight from death. But he also sees them as the very cause of death, since by giving birth they simply start humanity on the road to its inevitable end; consequently, the birth process is portrayed as a betrayal. I am afraid the only way one can bear to read this book is by not taking it seriously.