Mark the Shill

Our meanings, all meanings, are simple
As any shell game, as three-card monte.

There’s a trick involves a thing you want,
See clearly enough to point to it,

That pointing being the beginning
Of the game and the quest for meaning,

And then the endless iterations
In which what you want persists and yet

Evaporates when you point at it.
Where’s this game from? Where did games come from?

How did games differentiate themselves
From hunting, social grooming, and play?

How is meaning always there, always
Hiding? The game itself’s the meaning,

The making of the meaning, the rule
Of pretending value in something

That’s just a marker. No, that’s not it.
The meaning is the con? Yes. Nope, gone.