.....Claire's husband had died after a prolonged illness, but the marriage had died long before. Arthur came to her in her loneliness, a wonderful lover who would arrive at a moment's notice whenever she wanted him. She told me that he could give her pleasure for hours. He wanted to marry her but she didn't love him and after a while they separated. They remained friends; he would call her from time to time and occasionally they met for lunch. One winter day when there was sleet and ice he had a terrible accident. He lay in a coma. Claire came to the hospital. She stood by his bed and thanked him for the pleasure he had taught her, and then she kissed his forehead and said Goodbye. A few days later he came out of it. Now he calls her from time to time and occasionally they meet for lunch. He still loves her.
.....In my poem he dies. This is called poetic license.
.....Eddie Cantor was a famous comedian in the thirties. He played in musical comedies in the movies, singing such songs as "Let's Make Whoopy" and "If You Knew Susie Like I Know Susie." He had big eyes for which he was nicknamed "Banjo Eyes." He had a radio show, a wife Ida and five daughters, and a lot of pep.
.....It is intended that the poem be performed dramatically in two voices.
....four....three....two....one...
Snow and ice on the highway
Dull thud crunch
Spray of broken glass
(tinkly)
bones breaking
(snappy)
Zero.
One...
She said
He had been the lover, always there;
all she had to do was pick up the phone.
Reliable.
Indefatigable
Inexhaustible
two....three...
She said
It was like the national phallus that rises
on a grassy hill in Washington
but not so pointy on top
without flags around
and aviation lights,
and, of course, not quite not quite
so high.
four.....five....six....
He taught her ecstasy,
the various meanings of infinity.
Do you know, he asked, that there are infinities of
infinities?
And she said,
Yes, I know.
A fellow named
Georg
Ferdinand Ludwig Phillip
Cantor (1845-1918)
a German mathematician,
inventor of the arithmetic of
infinity.
No relation to Eddie
seven....eight....
She covered it with her fingetops touching,
making a roof with her hands,
and said,
nine....ten....eleven...
He said, Yes,
the Temple of Aleph and Bet.
The set of all the whole numbers constitutes an infinite set.
Cantor wrote this as Aleph-sub-zero,
calling it (the set of All)
Aleph-Null.
twelve....thirteen....fourteen....
Oh, that is good, good, keep it going just like that,
ah, ahh, ahhh....
All right, so then we take all possible sets of the collection....
Yes, yes, the infinite number of collections-- actually
two raised to the Alpha-null power-- whereby we
have the first transfinite infinity
Aleph-one.
I love it I love it never let it stop oh good good
ah... ahh... ahhh...
Continuing the process...
Yes, yes yes, to Aleph-infinity.
And then if one can imagine such a thing, collecting all the sets in Aleph-infinity..
Bet-null! Aleph and Bet, the Temple
OF!
And, as before....
The process, Yes
Yes, yes, the PROCESS as beFORE! YES! YES!
BET-- in-- FIN-- I-- teeEEE-- eee-- e.
five.... four... .three....two....one....
zero.
................................................................................Israel Lewis