That Isn’t There

The whole point of language
Is coordination.
Its adaptive function

Is social—to agree
What to call the mountain,
That there’s a mountain there,

A common feature shared,
A common reference
Around which to make plans.

The whole thrust of language
Was to limit freedom
In favor of living,

Reduce independence
For leverage over
Survival. It started

Probably earlier
Than you mostly tend to think,
As evidenced in how

Hard it is now for you
To imagine living
Any kind of human

Existence without terms,
Without pleading, without
A name for that mountain.