“Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why.” – Bernard Baruch

from 1995, Brownstone
w/ I Can’t Tell You Why

ASKING WHY
by Kendall F. Person

When the long summer days abruptly end and the cold winter nights begin their stance, why do we ask why as the rain starts to fall, when it happens every year? When the alarm clock sounds each morn, signifying it is time to start the day all over, why do we sigh then ask why, when we already know the answer? When they lower the casket of a loved one into the ground, why do we scream why, when as a matter of nature and God’s law, we know that only time is eternal?

Why do the caged sing? Why do the freed sit in silence? Why do we give up, when there is no reason to stop trying? Why do we educate ourselves, then not share what we know? Why do we say I love you, when we are letting go? Why an eye for an eye when blind men cannot see? Why is truth not spoken louder? Why listen to decent? Why inhale the aroma of fresh air, then pretend we are not harming the atmosphere? Why are we fighting over a border wall, when the people on the other side, have been our allies for hundred of years?

Why do we march, then fight at the end? Why do we ask the same questions over and over again? Why do we sing praise & worship, yet never truly understand what it means? Why do we pretend, that we are perfect men and not try to be?

Maybe by asking why more often, then pondering before answering such questions to ourselves – of ourselves – then not only will the answers be not difficult to find, but perhaps we will locate happiness and meaning within the days of our lives.

Why not ask why?

this is… The Neighborhood
cover photo ‘Why’ by Ken Treloar