Page 148

By Jack Joseph Smith

//4 laughing again, ,and ‘their: cracked smiles: remembered te him hisscomfort. in déBaucherys He rememhered now : how he had lost’ himself in their grin, Hew ‘laughter Wasonot.at, but to, How it came-acress: removing none- of “him, Thougli he had ‘been drunk and ‘lost, he-stilli retained'in. his mind the-tranee-he-had been ing hew: : ceiling lamps.:and’ fans ‘had ‘switled' kerosene: lit old " worlds: in flickers: against the ‘turning carved! woods Suddenly -hg Lenses went. dew crashing, asshis fore= head ‘had ‘dene -then, Sharp against the -planked' fleer he had "hit. spilling atthe ‘orack of temple: the wild: liquid’ over: the thick soaking wood, Inmediately he: had‘ risen like a-complete-“merican te save the-spirdts Immediately le lad'risem as- am Ameri¢am intent to save>the-spiritss Across: the -werld; twenty six: shots: ini all In- his mind now he -wae moving through. these: Bodied’ faces: that appeared as-a-bleb, Like-a-childa: dean their connected fleet: wassa” literal heavy ser sation; At the déer he -was more -inte es view: than he-had ‘heen, thens’. Outside ee ewe toward‘ anlate medél’ chevy still semewhia¥. shiny, and taken. eare-of, He hadn't noticed’ the “high: thin window: then, buti it became -a-freme>im his: mind nowy Inlonge gated necks: tepped eyes: on the- upended: strings: of face lessstissues Edel eye-was: a-single-socket abandoned ef its -twint! They watohed’ tehind“ the-glass-asvhe-went te, 1 2

Original Scan

Page 148

AI Interpretation

GPT

Laughter, drunken collapse, spilled liquor, and watching faces turn a debauched memory into a scene of self-recovery.

What matters here is the distinction between being laughed at and being laughed toward. The page suggests that humiliation can become a strange kind of belonging before it tilts back into spectacle.

Claude

Laughter, drunken collapse, spilled liquor, and watching faces turn a debauched memory into near-reverence. The page uses comedy to get at tenderness.