Page 86

By Jack Joseph Smith

No Protection I saw the sea four times I have seen the earth once I have seen many animals come out of less And less out of most; Fish can not talk beneath the water and men can't either: But you can not go to sleep Youuhave to have hope And anger at a bad dream Fold up your life Creese it, throw it away No challenge let The horror of today

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

The poem treats exhaustion and despair as something that must be resisted by force of hope, anger, and deliberate refusal to collapse.

Its title promises vulnerability, but the page is really an argument against surrender. Sea, earth, animals, fish, men, sleep, and nightmare all become parts of a stripped-down survival ethic: fold life up if you must, but keep enough will to answer the horror of today.

Claude

No Protection: seen the sea four times, earth once. Fish can't talk beneath the water and men can't either. Fold up your life, crease it, throw it away.