Page 289

By Jack Joseph Smith

Dear Penny and steve With the considerable trouble in my life; no trouble about you and yours Love is so good The sight that is unchanging I see how you watched out for others So many hapless and promising you took in,, put up, and showed direction Really countless your good works Since meeting you in early sixty seven until especially your Mc Kens ZIE River home. That time knowing you, nothing is better Like walking toward a kiss Or ever maybe buck skin on a lance Thanks

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

This letter-like page thanks Penny and Steve for practical love, durable shelter, and years of hospitality, ending with images of a kiss, buckskin, a lance, and thanks.

The corrected transcript makes the page more plainly affectionate. The poem values their steadiness as a rare counterweight to the speaker's trouble, while the handwritten McKenzie completion and signature marks keep the page visibly personal.

Claude

''''Dear Penny and steve' -- a direct letter fragment thanking Penny and Steve for taking in the hapless since 1967, up through the McKenzie River home. 'Walking toward a kiss / Or even maybe buck skin on a lance' gives the thank-you its Western kiss.'''