Page 61
By Jack Joseph Smith
By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
This page reads like a farewell that tries to bless the whole rough landscape of a life without denying its danger.
The poem gathers industry, city light, friendship, family, and risk into one last long breath. Its tone is grateful, but never cleanly sentimental.
The End. This dance was just the usual way to spin. Murder and going off the edge took off the smile. Slag dumps, blue gills, rivers, bell towers, country favors in spring, city lights sung for him, rock and roll, coal minds, quiet talk, shacks between the rivers. To be better than one place, to protect friends with silence, blue lights and blue skies in the morning, with his dad on the same page. The book takes what may as well be a farewell.