The Good Bunch
By Jack Joseph Smith
By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
The speaker praises a five-person family supporting a son facing medical structures and a father turned from military intellectual into street fighter. The coda extends the tribute from Waimea Falls to the Tigris Euphrates and closes with Jack's affection and the year 2008.
The speaker asks mythical gods of courage and the Lord to bring the family success and peace. The signed closing addresses the family as friends after describing the son's and father's separate battles.
The poem praises 'Five warriors; a Mom and a Daughter, / and a Son with a sailor guy's name' backing up 'the other Son', while a father 'turned by choice and circumstance / into a street fighter' finishes his own fight. It asks gods and 'our Lord' for success and peace and ends with the family 'Already known from Waimea Falls to the / Tigris Euphrates, / as the good bunch', signed 'Your Friend, / with Love, / Jack / 2008'.
A family tribute is written in the language of combat, with mythic gods and the Lord invoked together in a warm, slightly playful epic tone. The handwritten sign-off turns the poem into a personal gift.