He early on thought that
he was unbeatable -- until
a left hook floored him
for the count. Repeatedly
thereafter he got nailed
by a left hook and every time
was counted out.
It took
hime time to learn to emulate
Antaeus and to stay down
till Mother earth recharged
his batteries. That did
not make him stronger, though.
Antaeus was not Hercules.
But he got better in arithmetic
from having learned that 10
come after 9.
Robert Lowenstein's work has appeared in Blind Man's Rainbow and The Raintown Review among others. He lives in West Orange, NJ.