On the Distinction Between Cells and Shells

We should like to begin,

With fond apologies

To Johan Huizinga,

By distinguishing play

From the game, asserting

That, while play is ancient,

The game, evolved from play,

Perhaps, or perhaps just

Appropriating play

To game’s unique functions,

Has essential features

That are not within play.

Contra Huizinga, play

Does not have rules per se.

Play does not distinguish

Beforehand boundaries

Between the real and play,

And while play that becomes

Life and death in earnest

Ceases to be pure play,

Games play for any stakes,

Even within fixed rules,

Pre-established borders,

Not just in space or time

But in behavior. Games

Can be arbitrary,

Lethal, and still rigid.

If play were early life

Functioning within cells,

Then game would be the first

Predatory life forms,

Or the first to armor

Themselves with jaws and shells.