Page 15

By Jack Joseph Smith

the sons are of our lonelyness are thusly crul The horror of pestilance reversed, is the mistrust of solitude, each in their mistrust of theogony, all then in the curse of peace The trust of lines, or the blood of line The kill of the rabbit as a child, the gun later in the dark, angery in any neighborhood Cross across to make things right Proximity takes courage, which no European has ever had; isn't it interesting, that only distance saves the soul, in the last two lifetimes of course; a watchful eye, sleek and very well cared for, is with a lifetime given individually, a horror; family will be shot, men will go to wards, Song be happy enemy, America, finally, out of the air we are, will

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

This middle section pushes from pestilence and mistrust into distance, courage, song, and a harsh vision of family and nation.

The poem is trying to think historically and personally at once. Its anger is not abstract; it keeps landing on neighborhoods, kinship, America, and the strange inserted command or naming of song.

Claude

The continuation completes the previous line - 'the sons are of our lonelyness are thusly crul' - and builds a theory of distance. 'The horror of pestilance reversed, / is the mistrust of solitude,' and violence is traced from 'The kill of the rabbit as a child' to 'the gun later in the dark.' Its provocative claim: 'Proximity takes courage, which no / European has ever had,' so 'only distance / saves the soul.' The watchful 'eye, sleek and very well cared for' coexists with a future where 'family will be shot, men will / go to wards' - America arriving 'finally, out of the air.'