Superficially superior officials play
“Interpreting Genomes,” that popular parlor game,
Even if it does not turn out to be playable,
Strictly phrased. Inferior interior outlaws
That we are, we have an avocational interest
In games that are unplayable. Because we respect
The concept of game, which seems to us to underly
Most human thought, language, and cultural behaviors,
The thought experiment we call “Unplayable Game”
Is itself a favorite parlor game for us to play.
In an unplayable game, winning means the same thing
Whether or not there are rules to the game, regardless
Of whether we are inside or outside of the game.
In an unplayable game there is nothing but play,
Play lacking purpose, definition, simulation,
And, most importantly, any least capacity
For enumeration, explication, or meaning.
An unplayable game would only remain a game
In the sense that it’s a game to try to think of one
And, as thought, repeatable, which a game has to be.
Endosymbiosis is a game to interpret,
And a relatively ordinary game at that:
Symbols, thoughts, numbers, rules, an inside and an outside,
Rewards, and replications. For the mutant circus
Of chimeras who will reproduce to extinction,
However, was it a playable invitation?
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