After the lecture, the lady sitting next to me said,
"I don't think I'll come anymore.. I couldn't hear half he said."
She was - maybe 70.
"So get yourself a hearing aid"!
"Ugh, who wants to wear a hearing aid. I hate all aids!" The puckered nose
The repellent body gestures
The "Not for me - Never for me" voice.
Stupid woman!
"You won't get back your youth by denying your age!
And why not aids?
We use aids all the time -
Eyeglasses - aids to seeing
Cane - aid to walking
False teeth - aid to eating
So what?!
The main thing is being able to think.
Your mind is working
You're alive to life!
She looked at me with stubborn but apologetic eyes as I took out my hearing aid.
She hadn't meant to insult me.
She hadn't!
"You can hear" I insisted
Your mind can work
You're alive to life!
You're living!
That's the main thing," I repeated.
Behind me, I heard a metallic sound.
He was smiling No! More than smiling
A kind of friendly salutation,
Shaking his head in
Cheerful agreement,
His eyes dancing, He said,
Extending his chromium fingers
"I was glad to hear someone else say it -
Yom Kippur war", he said.
But I'm alive!
My fingers are stiff" He said
"But my head's all there.
Like you said, "I'm alive to life"
My mind is working, I'm alive!