Page 18

By Jack Joseph Smith

For one to go now it is one thousand My freedom has left the world A space without God The Muslim and the Christian I am told my Grandfather knew well Hash or wine was the difference, in the stories they would tell The sur real communism at our, left over table of the world The hurt with the desire to marry The leaving, the always leaving As if you are a sin and a coward For flying, for swimming, for running Was it correct Marshell Tito, yes; still some are alive to be Jew Strange the world will war over us Isn't Grandfather, Christian and Muslim, as Jew And as I crossed over Grandfather

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

The page continues the poem through religion, migration, family story, and a world that keeps forcing divided identities together.

What stands out is the pressure of leaving. Christian, Muslim, Jew, grandfather, marriage, and escape are all part of one unsettled inheritance.

Claude

The Albanian monologue deepens its arithmetic of exile - 'For one to go now it is one thousand' - and reports 'My freedom has left the world / A space without God.' Religion collapses into custom: the grandfather knew 'The Muslim and the Christian,' where 'Hash or wine was the difference, / in the stories they would tell.' The poem turns the question on history directly - 'Was it correct Marshell Tito, yes; / still some are alive to be Jew' - and folds all three faiths into one kinship: 'Isn't Grandfather, Christian and Muslim, / as Jew.' It ends mid-crossing, 'And as I crossed over Grandfather.'