I wrote this poem in the 1980's, and presented it the first time in a university setting. It was greeted with hostility by the majority although at least two students liked it. I was even accused of hating people. I will be interested to see how it is greeted here.

Copyright, 2007, Jerry W. Engler


It's the hows we know so well,
the hows that put us in control.
It's the whys that we have only nodding acquaintence with,
the whys that make us lose our order.
We know how the atom works with
protons, neutrons, electrons reduced
to quarks and other parts.
We know how grass grows and birds fly,
and many other things,
how to make an engine go,
and how to make a toothache stop.
That's how you and I can sit
in sophisticated pose:
because we know how.

We know a little of the hows of earth,
to cover it with altruisms and greeds,
our mowed lawns, cars and concrete.
We masters of the hows are on a pinnacle
that continues to grow, each person
ever more part of the mass of the hows,
left less to be his own.

It's the whys that bother us,
that cause us
to cling to our mass of hows,
to avoid plunging
into the depths of the whys.
We carry only
the smallest piece of the whys
to justify all our hows.
So, we'll spend our time talking
about how we'll set
the order of the world,
how we'll run ourselves,
not why the atom,
why the grass,
why the birds,
why us.

If anyone ever trys to tell us whys,
let's nail him to a cross,
and spend 2,000 years
explaining how he was.

Jerry W. Engler