Page 42

By Jack Joseph Smith

RUNNING BACK A man goes through many cycles in his life, and in the end is a Tiebetan monk; Before... he dies; he tells the most holy monk of his ORDER; that he is going to go back to the part of his world strongest in his memory; The most holy monk says to him, if you go BACK; you will have to begin here the next time; And the man of many cycles and many youths, replies... I know; but I am not ready for Heaven yet.

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

A reincarnation parable: a Tibetan monk chooses to run back toward the part of life strongest in memory instead of accepting heaven.

The page treats memory as a rival eternity. 'Running back' is not noble progress but chosen repetition: the self would rather re-enter its most charged earthly attachment than dissolve into final peace.

Claude

'Running Back': parable of a Tibetan monk who chooses to re-enter the strongest part of his memory rather than accept heaven.

The poem treats memory as a competing eternity — the monk would rather re-start at the page's beginning than dissolve at its end. 'I am not ready for Heaven yet' is the speaker's final confession, deliberately plain. The parable is short enough to pass as a joke, which is part of the poem's stealth.