Page 181

By Jack Joseph Smith

The Bird And The Worm The differance Between Catholic and Zen Is the catholic falls seperate One knee at a time While the zen goes down Two at the same time And while rising The catholic may brace Making a slant is alright While the zen must rise alone Thus the cross and the praying Mantis There the bird Here the worm

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

The speaker contrasts Catholic and Zen kneeling and rising, then pairs cross and praying mantis with bird and worm.

These physical and religious comparisons are manuscript assertions, not authoritative descriptions of either tradition.

Claude

'The Bird And The Worm' finds 'The differance / Between Catholic and Zen' in kneeling: 'the catholic falls seperate / One knee at a time / While the zen goes down / Two at the same time', and in rising, where 'The catholic may brace' but 'the zen must rise alone'.

The poem turns posture into emblem, 'Thus the cross and the praying Mantis', and closes on 'There the bird / Here the worm'. The comparison is the speaker's comic theology, not an authoritative account of either practice.