The Roe Violin

By Jack Joseph Smith

Her door opens, while eyes from dream begin to play From this porch, one's attraction, is taken by the best Subtle small smile; in a glance she does say (Done; their bit of driving, the excape from the beast) Born blood aristocratic at the third person in life From moment to nerve a cord in her own song No overloaded diamond wings bent against her strife She hand feeds birds on a yardless slope, up and down On enterance, a slight twist Has made thunder ponder Always a visit by an abstractionist And a man might shake his head in wonder
A suggestion of madness Or carpet gossip making money magic When after all we know there is a canvess Her eyes as good as a farm, rambl'in and rake We see a mule, a big wheel, and H.B.O. in sneer And when no good is done we all will be gone Hopefully we will know there is a God here Not for herself, she has taken us beyond She says there is no continuence in retreat Choose a chair and damn the drunk (Don't you know; I would like to live in a tent, before I wink my way down to that lot)
So rounds of de Cafe' coffie it is In her care of continence This time around in fashion Where the drip of sorrow has no spite or spice While with dirty linen they continue to call her hun And after again she tunes the instrument of herself Offering soup and cakes to the souls she has found Later understands their alien gaze over her threshold As these times taken by parties of three, lingering off from wishes left; cannot deny a presence unbearably free, while making marvel of the reply in her stance (I suppose I am not so ill after all; seeing how they can never find their way) Love Jack

Original Scan

Page 28
Page 29
Page 30

AI Interpretation

GPT

The speaker portrays a woman at her porch, feeding birds and offering soup and cakes, through smiles, song, gossip, a canvess, and visitors' gaze. The speaker credits her with taking others beyond and calls her presence unbearably free; the poem ends with Love and Jack.

The speaker pairs admiration with money magic, H.B.O., a mule, and a wish to live in a tent. Her care for visitors accompanies their alien gaze without establishing her identity or a biographical relationship to Jack.

Claude

A woman is watched as her 'door opens, while eyes from dream begin to play', feeding birds 'on a yardless slope', amid 'A suggestion of madness', 'a canvess' and a list of 'a mule, a big wheel, and H.B.O. in sneer' before she says 'there is no continuence in retreat'. At the close she 'tunes the instrument of herself', offering 'soup and cakes to the souls she has found', and the page is signed 'Love' / 'Jack'.

The portrait moves through rhymed quatrains that mix porch, thunder, commerce and media images, observing her with awe rather than explanation. The violin of the title returns as 'the instrument of herself', and source spellings such as 'excape', 'canvess', 'continuence' and 'coffie' are kept.