Page 245

By Jack Joseph Smith

The Hand Of The Gun: All is perfection Only other death or the ridge Need is the subject So all is as well as the weather This of course is not to mention our mention of our particular cross Then there is a ring Which is not a bell While we were singing Even writing home It is gone now We are left a dream And it is it it it Void as it seems I am the best I have ever been

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

"The Hand Of The Gun:" treats perfection, death, weather, the cross, ringing, song, and writing home as elements of a dream that has been left behind.

The scan-checked version restores the page's declarative rhythm. The title frames the poem with threat, while the body circles around need, religious reference, and the repetitive 'it is it it it' as if the object of the poem resists clearer naming.

Claude

The Hand Of The Gun, third pass. All is perfection; only other death on the ridge. Need is the subject. This of course is not to mention our mention of our particular cross. We are left a dream — it is it it it. Drafting toward a canonical version.