Page 448

By Jack Joseph Smith

A sholder said to me it is hard to find out who you are, and that is why there is war Here, just seconds ago Never a conscript Still I remember Thinking of myself As a sholder It is silent as a dog that has had it In here, and I am wondering Down to Earth, forgeting about leaving When the world passes by They just say I can't do it anymore Which is not true Wondering about these young people in the building And how quiet it is tonight

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

This page joins a handwritten claim that not knowing who you are produces war with a typed refusal of conscription, exhaustion, and the strange quiet of younger people nearby.

The cleaned transcript changes the page from a damaged fragment into a layered page: handwritten identity-and-war language sits above a typed poem of memory, refusal, and fatigue. The ending's quiet building gives the whole page a worn, watchful mood.

Claude

''''Soldier' -- the shoulder/soldier pun visible in the title scribble. Never a conscript, remembering himself as 'a sholder.' 'Silent as a dog that has had it.' Wondering about quiet young people in the building tonight.'''