Page 98

By Jack Joseph Smith

99 outs Excuse me Mister and Mtsses Frost, but we have bean led to believe that your son was involved with burning down a large vacated Barn, Bowerhill Road, I could see the flames, as they went leaping through my mind, while I stood motionless telling the cop that I Imew nothing atout its I felt my spirit going barreng aa the cop went out the door and I faced my father; Did you do it? Yes;, bubiit was an accident, I thought there were people living theres There were, I knew thems One of them was a poet and he played the gutare He was my age and he wtote the best poetry I ever heard, They moved aways I'll probably never see him again, I didn't really get to lnow him the way I wanted tos Boy, he could write pretty things, He wouldh't “have moved away waléss-the place was haunted, Youktso dumb Michaela You know that hatk you are saying is stupids It was an accident, Now your lyiage Jas te got out of control; dnd &:got scared and had to runs. +7 Well, I'm going to call the police right now, because I have “tos. T lmows' She whispered through my thoughts then when I could touch her near mes Will you walk me home now, My mother will wonders I don't want tos I dott want to toos Yes, but may I kiss you beneath each tree on the ways Yese

Original Scan

Page 98

AI Interpretation

GPT

Police come to the house about the burned barn, Michael confesses to his father that it was an accident linked to a vanished poet boy and a haunted place, and the scene dissolves back into a girl's request to be kissed beneath each tree on the walk home.

The page is split cleanly between interrogation and lyric tenderness, which makes the domestic reckoning feel even harsher. Michael tries to defend the fire through haunting and poetry, but those meanings have no standing once the police and father are in the room.

Claude

Why did you burn it down? Because it was haunted — and the girl tells him he will have to go away no matter how much money his parents have; the page also records seeing the Harlem Globetrotters with his father, wishing he were black for the road.