Page 21

By Jack Joseph Smith

Metaphor I never had anything to go bankrupt about I was never material I was always abstract I learned it as young, as you get, playing football Signs and space made reason, quick to dance I have never accepted a suggestion, Not giving a damn ment being aware Think of the sides of shallow, is it you or a stream Think of a fool, is it the theatre, or a serious mistake Think again of money as a dream, or think you have it, down right; how closely does you mind change, either way I have physically left life, And alone with my mind; come back to share, physically gone There is always a part missing The subtle and the secret The heart and the vanity But Give me Any lake, and the toss of a smooth stone

Original Scan

AI Interpretation

GPT

The speaker describes an abstract life, questions money and certainty, and asks for a lake and a smooth stone to toss.

The speaker recalls learning through football, signs and space, then asks how a mind changes when money is real or imagined. Handwritten revisions give And alone with my mind and Give me Any lake. An unplaced But and a crossed-out margin revision leave some of the syntax open.

Claude

'Metaphor' has a speaker who says 'I was never material / I was always abstract', learned young 'playing football' where 'Signs and space made reason', and asks the reader to 'Think of a fool' and 'Think again of money as a dream'. He says 'I have physically left life, / And alone with my mind; / come back to share', admits 'There is always a part missing', and ends 'But / Give me Any lake, and the toss of a smooth stone'.

The poem describes a life lived in the head and tests that claim with a series of 'Think of' questions. Handwritten revisions add solitude ('alone') and turn the ending into a plain request for a physical, simple act. The lines are short and conversational, with source spellings such as 'ment' and 'does you mind' kept.