April 25 : How & Why Mechanics For A Cynic

"He who has a why to live
can bear almost any how",
said Nietzshe, and I appreciate it
but somebody's whys to live are
so often, so inextricably
connected to their previous hows
that to assume otherwise is unfair.

Whys stand chances when there's
porcelain tea sets
to break in the acts of rebellion
(not when the single steel plate will only
bend, and the food might fall next time
you get a meal).
Hows stand around
in varied levels of undress,
watching the scenes,
callous. To dreams and whys.
Whys live in joy and cookie jars,
Hows hide in unexpected places.

And I have whys, a hundred whys
packed up in my closets and
inside my socks. And hows and I
don't have to meet much.
But I see it and it hurts.

Whys don't save the fallen girl
killed because she's beautiful
(I thought you weren't supposed to hate them,
isn't that how it went?), the man who
was shot in the head. Hows come quietly
to the doors of the weary
and slip them out as if they were never there.
Old people with dreams die. Young people
with lists and boxes of whys
get scarred and scared and stay still
for too long to live life like it's meant.
Babies starve. Mothers watch.
Helpless to the onslaught
of ever-growing hows.
"Raped and mutilated body has scars
which show definite sign of struggle
on her part - how brave"
See, for whys, it can often get too late.