Why Poem by Sharon Thayer Kostenbauder

My father framed a painting, incomplete it looked to me
I felt compelled to ask him "why" the rest I did not see
My father said, "Sharon, my focus point is 'why?'"
"We all should reach for answers," he told me with a sigh
As you look at this painting, and make your inquires
Analyze each quest in depth, you will begin to see!
"But dad", I said, "The road leads half way through the gate!"
Then I said, "Now I see, this helps me mediate!"
"Yes!", my father said to me, "Your insight is correct!"
The very depth of what you see, could be more than you expect!
For all the details viewed, obvious to your sight
There is a hidden meaning, you must search for the plight!
While you summon the answers, keep asking yourself "why"?
Some people wish to live so much and others wish to die
Abandoned is a row boat, positioned by a pond
There must be conveyance, if people wish to bond!
What about the fence dad, what meaning can it give?
He said, "Persistence must be practiced, if people really want to live!"
I see one painted building and one that's just a frame
One has only emptiness, with nothing to proclaim!
There's much more land in the scene, with very little sky
"Some people experience more struggles!" dad answered with a sigh
Around the pond and along the road there is grass, very green!
While there is a noted difference, "Common Ground" is in the scene!
The road in the painting could reflect infinity
For even when people make a turn, they continue indefinitely
The beauty of this painting lays in interpretations!
People of varied lifestyles may share different explanations!
People of sheltered lives can not see, what they haven't known!
They can not truly understand, unless they have been shown!
Victims who've been traumatized and those who've fought in wars
In their minds could very well, hear screams or yells or roars!
An optimist might say this painting has potential!
A pessimist might say, it lacks the main essential!
I said, "Why does this painting have so much 'pastel' green?"
Dad smiled and said, "I'll let the beholder determine what it can mean"
Thank you for this lesson dad, to me you have provided!
I've learned so much from you and from this tour you've guided!
I hope your painting will help others see!
Some of these things, you've shown to me!