Page 261
By Jack Joseph Smith
By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
The Big Hunk puts a drunken speaker near sea, dock, Jesus, Zorba, cod, crab, and hidden currents until earth, sky, and sea strip away playacting.
Jesus and Zorba on the shoulders make a startling pair, joining sacred endurance to bodily appetite and recklessness. Cod and crab split the sea between ordinary fish and sideways madness, while currents deepen the scene beyond what can be easily seen. The people being watched care little about beginnings, endings, or a wrinkel in the ocean, so the final command to forget playacting reads as a demand for elemental honesty.
'The Big Hunk' sets a drunken speaker at the edge of the sea, 'caught by the sea', 'twice... way beyond the bay', too far gone 'to not walk across / the water'. He carries an odd pair, 'Jesus and Zorba... on my shoulders', sacred endurance beside bodily appetite, while 'Cod is one fish' and 'The madness of crab is another' split the deep. The watched faces 'care less about their / beginning' and 'never cared for a wrinkel in the ocean', so the final order to 'The Earth the sky the Sea' to 'forget playacting' reads as a demand for elemental honesty -- 'Wisdom in the stars is when you can't see them'.