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By Jack Joseph Smith

Tits I tried not to say a word Not even about saying something Then somewhere a child fell While I was thinking I was feeling it out when I said I did not Then I looked back and told them I did I had little to mention in my teeth And though hurt never stays the same Nothing I knew of excaped You can't catch it, but when your bad, you will try like hell to touch it You will never let it be looked at What is not see about the quiet breed

Original Scan

Page 145

AI Interpretation

GPT

The speaker tries not to speak, notices a child falling, denies and then admits something, and turns toward changing hurt, secrecy, and the quiet breed.

The body does not simply illustrate its provocative title. The shifting admissions and pronouns leave responsibility unsettled rather than narrating a confirmed incident.


Claude

Under the blunt heading 'Tits', the speaker tracks speech withheld and reversed: 'I tried not to say a word', 'when I said I did not', then 'I looked back / and told them I did', while 'somewhere a child fell / While I was thinking'.

The poem is about a compulsion that hides itself: 'You can't catch it, / but when your bad, / you will try like hell to touch it', yet 'You will never let it be looked at'. The shifting admissions leave responsibility unsettled rather than reporting a confirmed incident.