Tell me why

Assignment: write a poem entitled "Tell me Why ___" I took a little freedom and omitted the blank.

(Dedicated to Ahriah)

This is my niece’s favorite question
or it will be in a few months
when her tongue graduates from babyhood
to full on toddler status.

Auntie, why is the sky blue?
Auntie, why do zebras have stripes?
Auntie, why can’t you walk?

These are the questions
I look forward to,
ones that easy to answer
from my own knowledge
or a simple search on Google.

The harder set of questions
will come with adolescence
or earlier- given that she’s related to me,
unless we radically change both ourselves
and our social structures.

Auntie, why can’t any two people who love each other get married?
Auntie, what will happen when we’ve cut down all the trees?
Auntie, why are their still people who think that every girl likes pink?
Auntie, what did you do about it?

I don’t know what I’ll say.
All I know is that I work daily
to create a world
where questions like that
will occur only in history books,
not out of mouths of babes.