We start collecting with rocks. We begin, then, in the realm of prehistory, poring over minerals that might be millions or billions of years old, numbers so large and abstract that children might spend hours trying to conceptualize them.

This was the gray susurration of PBS and all the corduroy dads of the long afternoons.

The line was drawn—who were the boys who would remain celibate? And who were the boys who would fuck?

What could the “I” be in language, could it dissolve into other “I’s,” could it be multiple? Could the I’s begin playing games with each other?