experimentation

Context: I was invited to write a short entry on the term „experimentation“ for a postgrowth dictionary (Schulz & Schmid, forthcoming). Poetry would have increased the workload for editors and publishers in order to align it with the other entries. But this poetic version might still add a different layer to the term and is interlinked in the entry.

ex – out of.
peritus – a suffixed form of per meaning “to try, risk.”
-ion – a suffix that indicates a state, condition, or action.

Brain turns inward.

Like a spiral that digs itself deeper
with every round.
Passing the same vertical line
over and over again.
But on a different horizontal level.
Is this what they mean
when they say

that we should expand our horizons?
Following the why-axis
until we hit essential grounds
sounds like a plan.
Good enough for now,
safe enough to try?
Yes.
So, we keep spinning.
No risks without fun, though.
Let’s keep it playful.
And the end of this story
has just begun.

Plot twist.

what if we were hanging from the earth
like bats from a tree,
and gravity was the only thing that held us back
from falling into the stars?
don't you see?

Experimentation is born out of risk.
At least, the etymological roots of the term suggest so.

© cynje