Page 21

By Jack Joseph Smith

Metaphor I never had anything to go bankrupt about I was never material I was always abstract I learned it as young, as you get, playing football Signs and space made reason, quick to dance I have never accepted a suggestion, Not giving a damn ment being aware Think of the sides of shallow, is it you or a stream Think of a fool, is it the theatre, or a serious mistake Think again of money as a dream, or think you have it, down right; how closely does you mind change, either way I have physically left life, with my mind; come back to share, physically gone There is always a part missing The subtle and the secret The heart and the vanity But GiVE ME Any lake, and the toss of a smooth stone

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

Abstract life is defended against money and material certainty, with metaphor treated as the missing part that keeps experience unfinished.

The poem treats abstraction as the speaker's native condition, learned in youth and tested against suggestions, money, theatre, and physical departure. Its final images of missing parts, secrecy, vanity, lake, and stone keep metaphor active as the thing that moves after certainty is gone; the added But and GiVE ME insertions make the ending feel more interruptive and unresolved.

Claude

'Metaphor' is a defense of abstraction as native temperament: 'I never had anything to go bankrupt about,' 'I was never material / I was always abstract,' learned young 'playing football' where 'Signs and space made reason.' The poem tests certainty through a series of 'Think of' challenges - shallow vs. stream, fool vs. theatre, 'money as a dream' - asking 'how closely does you mind change, / either way.' It claims a doubled absence ('I have physically left life, / with my mind; / come back to share, / physically gone') and insists 'There is always a part missing.' The handwritten close interrupts with 'But / GiVE ME / Any lake, and the toss of a smooth stone.' This reading stays provisional: the page is needs-followup with uncertain left-margin handwriting. Source spelling 'ment' is preserved.