By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
This page stages a casual spoken account of walking, an alley, and sudden killing to show how reason can coexist with violence.
The repeated 'she said' matters. The poem sounds almost conversational, which makes the gunshot in the middle of the forehead more chilling and reinforces the final warning that place always makes a differance.
'The Age of Reason' (its title split into 'The Age' / 'of Reason' on the page) is a confession framed entirely by the quoted refrain 'she said'. The chatty setup - 'you know how it / is, walking', 'even / country towns have an alley' - lulls before the violence lands flat: 'So I shot him / right in the middle / of the forehead'. The irony of the title sharpens in the closing shrug, 'it makes a differance / where you go', where reason and casual murder sit in the same calm voice.