Page 280

By Jack Joseph Smith

It does not make you sing and dance It goes far away to let you do that Wher yo uncover a treasure and hand it or this is where it comes from Maybe they will know before life is gone Perhaps there is listening before wrong is done It says I'll take you upside the head I'll fringtem you om top of any mountain yank you pick as your own This place that has not voice That is im balance along the daring places This shrud in the mist This place no one has ever directally prayed to or towards There at the beginning of Saint Augustine Accepting God does not care

Original Scan

Page 280

AI Interpretation

GPT

The voiceless presence behind treasure, mountains, mist, and Saint Augustine stands away from song and dance, frightening the self into a harder listening before wrongdoing begins.

The force described here does not perform joy; it withdraws so human singing and dancing can happen at all. Treasure handed on becomes a clue to origin, but the poem quickly turns severe with threats on mountaintops and the balance of daring places. Ending with Saint Augustine and a God who does not care brings back the earlier theological harshness without resolving it.


Claude

Spirit goes far away to let you sing and dance. It threatens to take you upside the head, frightens you on whatever mountain you pick; a place with no voice, in balance along daring places, never directly prayed to. Augustine returns and God still does not care.