Page 395
By Jack Joseph Smith
Pittsburgh:
I see the blood dripping here
In my mind it makes shapes
So that even without history
I know it is true
I know that is why I stay
I'am caught up in it
and can't work any place else
By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
Pittsburgh appears here as blood-memory made into form, a place whose historical violence keeps the speaker caught inside it and unable to work anywhere else.
The page is blunt and effective. It treats place as psychic inheritance rather than mere hometown sentiment.
''''Pittsburgh' -- the speaker sees blood dripping that makes shapes in his mind. Even without history, he knows it is true; he stays 'caught up in it' and can't work any place else. A steel-town credo.'''