The poem of the body was not an essay
Nor the assays of the mind necessarily
Poems, and yet: Consider a board game,
A ball game, a folk dance, a prayer service,
And a parliamentary debate. Only humans
Are known to participate in any of these
Social activities, each of which is of a type
That has been humanly designed
And (continues to be) collaboratively
Developed through many, many
Instantiations, over many generations. Each
Of these activities entails conventional
Boundaries in space and time. Each is
Understood by the participants and any
Observers to stand slightly apart from
A greater, more real world external to those
Conventional boundaries, a greater world
In which the conventions of the activity
In question cannot directly be applied,
Whether that greater reality is thought of as
Nature, divinity, power, or simply whatever
Lies beyond the football pitch. Wittgenstein
Famously reasoned that there is nothing
That is held in common by every game, only
A host of family resemblances, each
Held by some games and not by others.
I disagree. Every game, including games
Of the folk-dancing, prayer-meeting, and
Parliamentary-debating types that are not
Generally considered even to be games, has
Both conventionally assigned spatiotemporal
Boundaries and a built-in assumption that
The realities (the rules) within the game
Do not obtain beyond those agreed-upon
Borders. A prayer service may put
Worshippers in direct contact with a divine,
But none of the worshippers expects divinity
To conform to the conventions of prayer
Services, nor even for those prayer-service
Conventions to hold in the worshipper's own
World outside of the service itself. Outside
My temporary window the rain pounded
Down on the woods and waves of the lake,
Although I could not help but wish, if not
Pray, to finish my thoughts another day.
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