Page 10

By Jack Joseph Smith

All The Ways Crossed Through the books, she crossed all the ways On a horse she did so too Within the highest of slopes, with two tough toes stuck to her ski's, she did so too Landscapes of all of Europe, have a memory of home for her What a courageous child was she And now Siobhan the Mom, gets to tell her story to three girls As she is the hippy we wanted above the fray A wanderer already with a view A virgin wife; o Mephistopheles, to see the rest of her life All the ways crossed, in the name of the father, and the son, and The holy ghost

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

A woman's crossings through books, horses, mountains, Europe, family, and religious language become a legend passed from mother to daughters.

The page turns a life of movement into inheritance. The final prayer-like formula, completed by the handwritten holy ghost line, makes her crossings feel both familial and ritual.

Claude

'All The Ways Crossed' praises a woman who crossed 'all the ways' through books, on a horse and on the 'highest of slopes, / with two tough toes stuck to her ski's,' so that 'Landscapes of all of Europe, / have a memory of home for her'. Now 'Siobhan the Mom' tells her story to 'three girls', and the poem closes on the handwritten completion of a blessing: 'in the name of the father, and the son, / and The holy ghost'.

The list of crossings builds a portrait of courage out of plain, repeated clauses ('she did so too'). Odd paradoxes such as 'A virgin wife;' and the address 'o Mephistopheles' pull against the closing sign of the cross, so the tribute mixes admiration, mischief and ritual.