Page 49

By Jack Joseph Smith

Even if I didn't know how to look around by now I can tell these fellows intent, bright eyed robbing the place And when it all went to hell I showed with the rest Not easy; you always have to turnnaround and come back I say why am I doing this when I am finished All fall the galaxy Sailors; know there are only two stars At A time You make a mess you go blind don't get tired make another one

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

The speaker recognizes criminal intent, joins the rest when everything collapses, and ends in a revised cosmic scene of falling, sailors, two stars, blindness, and another mess.

This is one of the collection's harsher meditations on complicity, since seeing what the fellows mean to do does not prevent participation. Turning around and coming back remains difficult but unavoidable, a repeated burden rather than a triumph. The handwritten ending makes ruin feel both local and galactic: all fall, sailors know, stars appear only two at a time, and mess-making continues through blindness and exhaustion.

Claude

The bank-robbing intent is read through the galaxy being turned off, only two stars at a time. You make a mess, then make another one.