Questions Your Children Are Certain to Ask

Why is the sky gray? And how do we know
In the fall, when the nights begin to swell
With cold, where do the sidewalks go?
Why is the world everywhere closed
In a smile? Why is my heart
Locked out of reach in my chest?
Which is best--the light, or the warmth,
Or the sight of the sun as it sinks in the west?
How do the different prohibitions grow
On fenceposts and the trunks of trees?
Are they alive? Are nails their roots?
How many moments make one slice of cake?
How many chairs are a life? If I swim
In the engines that power the lake, will I die?

    -- Tom Disch, (c) 1981