Page 21

By Jack Joseph Smith

Clensed This is the way we wanted the Earth Scattered with what we would rid ourselves of There where there is no line through the ovel, no curve noticed before the beyond We wanted ourselves in ashes, equally almost as good is this Earth, as the slaughter While says age sight can get to the magical rocks "While when as a child I wanted to be the Saint, with the sword" Above the Bible, literally, absolutely in the clouds Those on fire worshiped equally, again with the ones in peace Yet quick and dence is the population of the mind The therefore slashing through all obstical, for that one view of yourself

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

This late page of 'Clensed' tightens the poem into a sparse statement about purity, violence, and self-regard.

The page reads like a final distilled version of the poem's creed. Its force comes from repetition with slight variations rather than from narrative development.

Claude

The leanest 'Clensed' draft, pared back to its skeleton: 'Scattered with what we would rid ourselves of,' 'no curve noticed before the beyond,' 'We wanted ourselves in ashes, equally.' The saint wish is singular and plain - 'when as a child I wanted to be the Saint, / with the sword' - and 'Those on fire worshiped equally, / again with the ones in peace.' It ends on the same imperative the sequence keeps circling, 'slashing through all obstical, / for that one view of yourself.' This reading remains provisional because the page is OCR-uncertain and flagged needs-followup.