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By Jack Joseph Smith

Doim't touch it Don't touch the sound Don't let it heat Silence is strong Don't wat ch the worrds like 4 willow Don't be a beast, but close to the ground is not bad to listen to when you are already there ; Don't cry for those who are not your own If you do they are just laughing at you Even though we know it never crossed you mind, you are not the universe, and nither is anyone else

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

Silence is treated as a stronger medium than touch, heat, words, or tears, and the poem keeps lowering the listener toward the ground until self-importance is cut away entirely.

Its repeated prohibitions make it sound like instruction for surviving emotional confusion without becoming theatrical or cruel. Staying close to the ground is not humiliation here but a better way of listening once one is already inside the trouble. The final correction is crucial: neither private sorrow nor private thought makes anyone the center of the universe.

Claude

Don't touch it, don't touch the sound, don't let it heat. Silence is strong. Don't cry for those who are not your own or they are just laughing at you. You are not the universe, and neither is anyone else.