Ludwig’s Last Tape

 (A found poem: Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations, 621–660)

When ‘I raise my arm’, my arm rises.

The pain isn't here in my hand, but in my wrist.

Why isn't one surprised here?

I'm going to take two powders now,

and in half an hour I shall be sick.

I was going to say...

for a moment I was going to deceive him.

At that moment I hated him,

ashamed of this incident.

What justifies the shame?

For a moment I was going to...

look at a beast when it wants to escape.

I wanted my words to calm him down.

He sized him up with a hostile glance and said...

Very well, he supplies the meaning, he guesses it.

Our mistake is to look for an explanation.

I was then going to say...

I could then have gone on,

When I raise my arm, I don't usually try to raise it.

 

                                                21 August 2024