The writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau
do not explain why snails are slow.
Nor can we hope to learn from Leibniz
the reason why a hedgehog hibernates,
since he, like fellow-Prussian Nietzsche,
avoids all mention of the creature.
The causes of the desert's dryness
are scarcely touched on by Aquinas;
no light is thrown by Wittgenstein
on sex in starfish, nor by Quine.
Guidance on making bronze from copper
is not a topic found in Popper,
while nothing in John Stuart Mill
tells us why rivers run downhill.
Kant's works, piled high upon the table
do not reveal why I am able
to tickle you, but not myself.
I search in vain along my shelf
to know why tapeworms were created.
Philosophy is overrated.