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By Jack Joseph Smith

Early Snap your fingers Bring it all back Ancient keep ahold of it All the painters I have known Never became famous cause they couldn't give it away Damn is it good No matter where you are To think about California Right in the middle stumbled & shucked Where grass and wheet arn't two different things, when your taking a walk Don't leave if it is quiet That would be my opinion

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

"Early" snaps memory back into hand, praises obscure painters, and holds California in the mind as a place where grass, wheet, and walking almost cease to differ.

The command to snap fingers gives the poem a spell-like tempo, as if recall itself were a physical act. Its painters matter because they could not give the work away, making value inseparable from failure and stubbornness. California arrives not as destination but as a sustaining image of abundance and composure, roughened by the handwritten additions about being stumbled, shucked, and taking a walk.

Claude

Early: snap your fingers, painters who never became famous because they couldn't give it away. Think about California, grass and wheat aren't two di¥ferent things, keep the quiet.