[Note 1: The following includes mild, implicit spoilers. Note 2: This is not an in-depth review of The Witness and assumes some prior knowledge of and interest in the game. For an excellent, straight piece that describes the game’s mechanics, contextualizes, etc., please see Jonathan Clauson’s article at Christ & Pop Culture here.]
dots and lines
intersect in the trees,
asking:
just what
is the meaning
of these?
i walk and run
through forests,
past streams,
among architecture
conjured from dreams,
across platforms
suspended from cliffs,
seeking the meaning
of all of this
you see:
the dots and lines,
each and every time,
bespeak reason,
betray rhyme,
without words
and without sign,
still they speak
each and every time
and so i ask
as they demand:
what is the meaning
of these things
in this land?
why am i here?
how did it start?
what’s just the thing
that sits at the heart?
and then at the end,
i circle, ascend,
a mountain that beckons
from island horizon
it is tall, it is wide,
it has secrets hid inside
and now i know:
the dots, the lines,
they pointed upward
the entire time
the contraptions work
the mountain’s door,
to allow safe passage
to the mystery’s core
and then, deep inside,
eyes wide,
mind plied,
the puzzles cease,
the speaking stops,
and the game . . .
resets
and that’s it . . .
. . … ..
. .
.
however:
the point?
it’s already been made . .
has already been being made . .
the point:
that there’s such a thing as points
that things mean things
that in The Witness,
as in the world,
there is an
ever present
invitation to
understanding everything
afoot at all times
and though our
interpretations
be
difficult,
varied,
incomplete,
frustrating,
they are
nevertheless prompted,
demanded,
because
words are occurring . .
as long as we have
ears to hear
and . .
if we’re being honest . .
doesn’t this
point also
point to another
point?
doesn’t the
existence of points
point to the existence
of a point maker?
a pointist?
isn’t it the case that
that there is no
speaking machine
without a
machine designer
who speaks?
isn’t it the case
that there’s no
speaking without
language
(whatever it may be)
and no language
without a
master linguist?
a prime languager?
————————–
if i were
Jonathan Blow,
designer of
The Witness,
i might have included
the following
in one of those
beguiling bits of recording
found scattered
throughout the island . .
it seems to belong . .
“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4)
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