-
The Proof of the Axiom and Other Poems
- Common Knowledge
- Duke University Press
- Volume 8, Issue 2, Spring 2002
- pp. 407-414
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
Common Knowledge 8.2 (2002) 407-414
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The Proof of the Axiom snd Other Poems
Eugene Ostashevsky
The Proof of the Axiom
1.
She circles inside
the proof of the axiomThe axiom is self-evident
Is it true2.
Is a wavelength blue
Is a wave a waveShe performs a gesture
with her hand3.
If she hit rock
she could build a houseIf she built a house
she could look out of the window. [End Page 407]4.
O, no! There's an axiom
inside the proof of the axiomand another
and another5.
She cannot tell
the net from the knotfact from effect
All, as Parmenides says, is one6.
She walks in woe
from lodgment to lodgmenttrying to make
an analytic judgment. [End Page 408]
DJ Spinoza talks to Flipper
He walks around walks around
DJ SpinozaHe looks like a circle
from which sticks out a snorkelHe says, Hey Flipper
You're next in linefor the French throne!
For your directions aren't overthrownby th'element they swim in
You almost talkwhereas I sit under infinitesimal pieces of glass
instead of doing philosophyIf I were a rich man
all day I would tiddi-tiddi-dumfor the order of tiddi-tiddi-dum
repeats the order of thingsI know
it is soLook,
A cow flies
A fly cowsA rat larks
A lark ratsBut a dog dogs
A bug bugsAll sorts of things are happening
in the bayou. [End Page 409]
The Deaf
The deaf sit at a table
in an aviaryof hands
Their thought lacks wordsTheir hands sing
like an aviaryas heard by a deaf man
while visiting the zooHe has eyes
in place of earsHis birds
are like rootsThe deaf
have 17 fingers5 palms
They exceed understandingThought
void of wordsLove
with no one thereThe world of the deaf:
behind a glass wallthe hearing
gape like fishWords are absurd
think the deafHow
They are just not for us. [End Page 410]
La Fille Des Sourds
The hearing
daughter of the deafdreams aloud
in SignIn French
she is la fille des sourdsShe has
a Dedekind CutShe says: /t/ /k/ /p/
mutter babbleHer first words
are not in her MutterspracheShe walks
cries muttermutter mutter
Die Mutter kann nicht hörenThe mother is crushed
by the sides of her bedWhy
It is because they are so manythe dead. [End Page 411]
Group Portrait with Massacre
Four horsemen moved along Mission Street
I jumped in the saddle & the set was completeOur number was circular; if you squared it
It would end in itself, even for the visually impairedEven for the hearing impaired
Even for the tactilely impairedEven for the olfactory impaired
Even for the gustatorily impairedEven for the impaired impaired
It rotated impassive, it didn't yearn to be pairedWe rode through the thickets we rode through the glades
Cattails exploded like hand grenadesBefore they were gone, they meowed woebegone
Beneath each shone a black sunI couldn't bear it
I was a rabbitI was a bunny
I was a hareI walked around like Maurice Scève
My left retina was a sieveMy right retina was a colander
I hit SAVE
I hit SAVEBut my RAM got knotted in its own Boolean
Ringletslike a stoned anacondaOur captain said to us, our captain
The earth lies like brown tartanVarious peasants upon her go
Recalling the Book of Hours of Jean, Duc de BerryLet us depopulate her fully
And treat ourselves to a game of tic-tac-toeTic-tac-toe is a kind of binary arithmetic
I don't know the number of combinations but there can't be many. [End Page 412]It's like flipping 9 pennies
And 9 is 32, my matiesJust then a dragon flew by, its wings were covered with scales
Do-re...