Page 71

By Jack Joseph Smith

On The Rim Watch yourself Your out on your knees Your hands are lost Your belly is your only power and searching is not an option Block and tackle The pully then the pully then the pully Way back the twine; now the cable,; the rope for you; the slightly up, the dip The leverage of the third hand of the weight So you do not leave anything go Even an upside down cross, is not good For what you must not let slip through your hands now

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

On The Rim turns physical leverage, ropes, pullys, and grip into a spiritual and moral warning about not letting anything essential slip away.

What works well is the fusion of labor and symbol. Even the upside-down cross enters as part of a practical lesson about holding on under strain.

Claude

'On The Rim' stages survival as rigging: 'Your out on your knees / Your hands are lost / Your belly is your only power' and 'searching is not an option.' The mechanical litany - 'Block and tackle / The pully then the pully then the pully,' twine to cable to rope - turns endurance into hard physical leverage, 'the third hand of the weight.' The warning lands on what is held: 'Even an upside down cross, is not good / For what you must not let / slip through your hands now,' grip itself made sacred and precarious.