Page 64

By Jack Joseph Smith

A that he -had’ died? My mother came eut of my grandfathers-reem and I stayed with her fer awhile until’ peeple began ceming im with ham and bread and pineapple sauce-that smeeléd’ ungedly sweet in the middle of the feeling that was flowing deaths Bven:their talk went inte laughter split with sounds: of the ynrealy I went inte a corner-and then turned my head and saw myself rynning again dewn the~ trail’ that he and I had'chased ons And en and on I ran during these days ef Whiskey smell and black lace ever worn nesess until we were home again again. and the plesstns ef apring were Easter ani? the begining ef life after deaths Mass on Sunday came cut ef purple inte white and the priest was filled with grace-crossing across the alter-with his vestments flowing in the hands ef alter boys walking revently Wehind him I had‘ been free now of school fer menths and warm air was: moving the ivy green in the light agains Saturday and Sunday were the days I would meet Dani and take him te Kennedy ferest te show him what. I had found during the week whilé he was-in scheolf I had no trouble getting away from my yard as beferes fer-as my imagination had grown se had my ability of finding ways -to-touch the-end of its’ Once-upen a time the word went out that the: police had surreunded Hennedy forest’ and were really closing in en a.man who had’ rym away from the insane asylum .We went up on tep ef Metzes hill: and watched them moving around and going in and out of the forests’ It was a> long time befere-they caught him and we watched then take the man acress the basin ef the field where the tall grass meet the treess All’ the time sitting up en tep of the hill'we thought: about how it weuld be if we were: insane and running frem the -ceps-threugh the forest; After that when we went along hidden

Original Scan

Page 64

AI Interpretation

GPT

After the death, whiskey, black lace, food, and laughter carry mourning into a strange social flow, and spring returns with freedom, Daniel, Kennedy forest, and the spectacle of police closing in on an escaped asylum man.

Death does not stop the child's imagination; it redirects it straight back into forest myth and outlaw fantasy. Watching the police search from Metzes hill lets insanity become something pursued, observed, and then inwardly tried on by the boys.

Claude

Ham and bread and pineapple sauce smell ungodly sweet as the death hits, and Michael retreats to a corner where he sees himself running again down the trail he and grandfather had once chased, until Easter and the beginning of life after death.