Page 75

By Jack Joseph Smith

Sin The worst of all evils, no matter of Dante and turning against a friend, is hating your own Alone, I have received both, yes, again, I am the duelality, so I know I can't even let hard as hell be ironic in my thought Wicked, dangerous, almost the calling of names for me Watch yourself all the way back to the beginning of love When you see it festering, sorry but seldom, take it away It is settled that it is among men that I speak, but of course between women too, it is likewise This particular sin of each our own One way or another, mostly unspoken, this is the violence that will kill you; while removel of thyself from within the struggle, no't having you being as they say, or hanging out to dry, it simply and just, shifts the world Uncaring as God on high, or in the block of praying stone, try not to kill, help yourself like my ghost with a crutch, limping away laughing with blood, for no one is your honor when not crossing your breed confused.

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

This fuller version of the poem makes inner betrayal feel like a social poison that turns into violence.

The page is accusatory but also self-implicating. What matters most is not doctrine but the way cruelty hardens into a habit of mind.

Claude

A fuller 'Sin' that names the speaker's split self outright: 'I have received both, yes, again, / I am the duelality, so I know' (the typed 'duelality' preserved). The same definition stands -- self-hatred as the worst evil, 'no matter of Dante' -- but the social reach is spelled out: 'It is settled that it is among men that I speak, / but of course between women too, / it is likewise / This particular sin of each our own.' It frames the danger as quiet poison, 'One way or another, mostly unspoken, / this is the violence that will kill you,' while self-removal 'simply and just, / shifts the world.' God is 'Uncaring ... on high, or in the block of praying stone,' and the close turns wretched and ambiguous -- 'limping away laughing with blood, for no one is your honor / when not crossing your breed' -- before the handwritten one-word stamp 'confused.' (matched per scan review) seals it. The preserved handwritten 'no't' and the bare final word leave the poem deliberately unresolved. Spellings 'duelality,' 'removel,' and 'no't' are kept as written.