maybe any age, but right now
I am hearing five year olds
making up the world they will play in
at least for the next few minutes
choosing characters
assigning attributes, strengths, flaws
choosing laws and goals
the adult of me wonders if the game
will be as much fun as the creation
but also admires the completeness
while leaving chance room to wiggle
the adult of me also recognizes
that they do the same in learning what's real
maybe they even do it as a group
I never knew that group
at five, if I remember right
I played in the woods as often as I could
but part of that was telling myself stories
trying to see the grownup world from different heights
sneaking to the edge and watching folks
trying to figure out streetcars, for instance
or how women's clothes worked
oh yes, little boys notice and notice and notice
but nobody never explains nuthin interesting
or that was my experience
growing up alien in a foreign land
so we invent and make up and concoct
and if our guesses work, settle for that
no wonder science teachers have such a job to do
and then we're thrown out in the real world on our own
with nuthin guiding us but lies grownups have told
that we can plainly see don't hold
maybe we do what five-year-olds do once again
invent, make up, concoct, try out
until we find what works and doesn't
no wonder we need law courts
but still what wonderfully inventive
explorers five-year-olds are!
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