Page 314

By Jack Joseph Smith

Ego I did not see myself any different when I walked across the sky Tumbling from linen to the stars should be recognizable I saw death coming down How excited I was to go beyond it The mistake of looking widely To misunderstand certain places Yes, eeratude, later is abstract Go see the end of the wind Protect yourself, ignore laughter Find A resting PLACE

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

The poem treats ego as something tested by sky-walking, stars, death, wind, laughter, and the mistake of looking too widely without understanding place.

It has a sharp corrective force. The page wants transcendence, but only if it can survive contact with limits.

Claude

''''Ego' -- the speaker walking across the sky, tumbling from linen to stars. 'Go see the end of the wind / Protect yourself, ignore laughter.' A self-reconnaissance poem.'''