Page 86

By Jack Joseph Smith

No Protection I saw the sea four times I have seen the earth once I have seen many animals come out of less And less out of most; Fish can not talk beneath the water and men can't either: But you can not go to sleep You have to have hope And anger at a bad dream Fold up your life Creese it, throw it away No challenge let The horror of todat. Haven't seen it since Now I have SEEN IT twice Yah if you will YES IT CAN YES THEY CAN

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

"No Protection" treats exhaustion and despair as something resisted by hope, anger, and deliberate refusal, while marginal notes answer the typed poem with insistence that seeing can happen again.

Its title promises vulnerability, but the page is also an argument against surrender. Sea, earth, animals, fish, men, sleep, and nightmare become parts of a stripped-down survival ethic: fold life up if necessary, but keep enough will to answer the horror of todat. The handwritten replies make that ethic more dialogic, pushing back with haven't seen, now I have seen it twice, and yes they can.

Claude

No Protection: seen the sea four times, earth once. Fish can't talk beneath the water and men can't either. Fold up your life, crease it, throw it away.