By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
She turns to the speaker in a wild river, fire, a rifle alley and after losing a pet. The speaker calls freedom instinct even without knowing where one is.
The speaker repeats the same turn toward another person across dangers and loss, locating freedom in an instinctive response even without knowing where one is.
The refrain 'She turned to me' places her in a wild river, amid 'the overwhelming fire', 'trapped by the rifle alley' and 'when her pet was gone', and the poem ends 'Freedom is instinct, / even when you don't know, / where you are'.
Repetition builds a litany of danger and loss around a single gesture, and the brief ending treats freedom as instinct rather than knowledge. The plain diction keeps the tone tender.