Understanding

What is the essence,

The essential nature

Of understanding: how

And why things happen

Events occur, the unimaginable

Becomes reality? We ask “why?”

What we mean is the whole package

“Where”, “when”, “who”, “how”

Misunderstanding is not equivalent

To lack understanding. The former

Is a case of insufficient data, or lack of

Vital data. I lack understanding is a request

For data, or as a means of interpreting data

Understanding is a two-fold operation.

The data comes first. Without the tools

Of understanding, it is meaningless

Understanding is a set of skills, acquired

From study, application, and experience

To understand is a verb, a word of action

It is a process, processing of information

The phrase “I can’t understand” or

“I don’t understand” is a reference to 

A difficulty either emotional or 

Cognitively assessing information

“I can’t understand the disruption

Destruction and terror”, in reference

To Ukraine is a measure of the horror

Of the brutality of the scenes coming 

From that country. “I refuse to understand

The brutality of Hitler and Stalin, under whom

Millions were systematically murdered”

Is a measure of the abhorrence of both men

And the regimes they lead. It is not a comment

On being able to understand. To summarise

“To understand” is a verb. “Understanding” is a noun

The former is what one does, the latter that which one receives

How one puts that understanding to use

Is a test of character.