By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
The speaker distinguishes cows and steers in slaughter, then claims to count people hanged by the noose. Memories of horses and Texas lead to loss and a request to return to a needle and print a quilt.
The speaker connects animal slaughter to human hanging through counting and separation. The closing return to a quilt offers a way of recording loss, but the statement that the listener never quiet leaves the exchange unsettled. These claims belong to the speaker and do not verify a personal history.
The speaker says 'I do not mix / Cows and steers / in slaughter', says 'And as a history buff / I have counted everyone / Hanged black and white', and ends 'It is the way it is / And you never quiet'.
The poem lists violent history and ranch work in a flat voice, and the closing word quiet is kept as written.