Page 115

By Jack Joseph Smith

116 themselves, hit the ground, But it's not only the grass of Mount Lebanon I have used as my battle grounds the downtown streets and the barren cement have also been a part of my nighttime pleasure, One night they stripped me bare and worked me over ina Eee they threw me in a dark cell, as I laughed at them and pretended | was Mari fa Brando, My old man hits harder than that, That's pretty original, @rdanagas ¢ We both laughed on the sick side of a smiles His face was intense and waited to speak, but I went ong O'Dendy and his absurdity, Who gives a fuck is his statement about himself, And he looks upon the world as someone to shove it tog The world ie one big cut, Men and women with their pants down, and the men turned around, The whiskey goes dom so fast, so fast, My head is lonely, I took the richest of Mount Lebanon girle away from her husband, during a time when they were killing each others .— had no rights You probably heard about its It dosen't matters She is so beautiful and afraid with her two children ahd allj Her father is so rich, He bought them a fancy home and a cars Gave him a job, and paid the bills, He threw parties, It a heppened on New Years eve, The power could not be cast asides Anything for a moment of song, and now I have sinned gravely. They have no place to go, and they will never touch agains Where did the father thin he was taking them with his moneys Worse than decadfence panifi Death, The spirit of booze and false laughters My mirror is with me when 1 am walkings No cry from my remb@ling is unheard in its distant weeping, ‘that does she do now with her eyes arping under her stright strend of unsmoothed hairy No love to touch her, I have been her mediwa for oblivion, I sometimes look around under the womb of my covers and wonder where I amg Three days on a drunk and you just can't see yourself begin any kind of begimaings All through

Original Scan

Page 115

AI Interpretation

GPT

Street fighting and police abuse give way to Michael's drunken confession about taking a wealthy woman from her husband and leaving her stranded with children inside a life of money, shame, and false laughter.

The swagger does not disappear, but it sours into guilt and disgust as he talks about the affair and its damage. Booze, mirrors, beds, and hangover isolation replace the earlier combat scenes, making the voice feel more exposed and less triumphant.


Claude

Naked beating in a cell as Michael laughs and plays Marlon Brando; the richest of Mount Lebanon girls taken from her husband on New Year's Eve; three days on a drunk in which you cannot see yourself begin any kind of beginning.