Page 169

By Jack Joseph Smith

"Fer Christ's.sake, these fucking aids were pro= bably Vice President's," laughing with a squeal ¢ici, \ "T really wanted that money," And then. he slaped his ar iy head and lughed, dtwsking on the smekes He got up from his bed, ,went’ ever to his desk and began te write-a-poeme. He would make it a clear express= ien of himself, He would talk about childheed and when in Orfanage weuld go out with his Christmas five dollars: te buy'a watch, Then geo out in the street and ‘hustle it fer ten, He would talk about how being an American Mar= ine was why he undérsteed ‘Che Gurvirres He started; I went down the Christmas..New York beat Fer five years ‘that same old street Pla tee With a silver watch you could step with yeur thumb With all the white ‘and watching Never: taken asa bum was I at the ‘ crossing ing-ing-ing . ’ It-was a wonderful time of the year : It was a wonderful time, ji st eilver-watch and ten And when my street heart sings \ It makes me think ef then . i= And-went ons ’ / The structure is military light: Military light ie the belief I have in mevies Then he-would ‘talk in his:peem about Prison, and dsolding en the ee ¢ am ie . , 9 Soddeaiy ct LooX el Yow cAlot f non . \ ot . TEL TAEN Aloe FRITS sl 9 LA wae Ard. . : fon ead deerdiwv gat SAF SAGE! /

Original Scan

Page 169

AI Interpretation

GPT

Jiven Joe answers rejection by writing himself back into myth, turning childhood hustle, military bearing, and street memory into the raw material of a self-authored legend.

The poem-within-the-page matters because it shows how quickly experience becomes narrative equipment. He cannot control the industry table, but he can still seize authorship over the life they tried to reduce to credentials.


Claude

Jiven Joe answers rejection by writing himself back into myth — childhood hustle, military bearing, public life. The page is his recuperation by narrative.