Page 88
By Jack Joseph Smith
By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
The speaker remarks that Jefferson's name never came up and guesses that the named person is thinking about the speaker.
The speaker notices someone's absence from a conversation and imagines attention returning from that person. The brief note has a teasing tone, but it does not identify the acquaintance or supply the speaker's gender. The cramped surname remains provisional.
After a struck handwritten draft, three surviving lines read 'Funny how Jefferson's / name never came up, / I bet he's thinking about me.' The speaker notices that a name was left out and imagines that person thinking about them.
The note works as a wry punchline: leaving someone out becomes evidence of attention. The surname's cramped letters are uncertain, and the page does not establish who Jefferson is. Only the uncanceled lines are read.