(and a Few Dilemmas)

In the corner of a large canvas
Gauguin set three short questions
that call for long answers:
Where do we come from?
Who are we?
Where are we going?
In the painting there are twelve women
(of different ages), they all seem
to have different answers:

the baby still remembers where it came from
the maidens must have 1001 answers
and the old woman senses where she is headed.
But there are animals
on the canvas, too (that no one
even bothers to ask).
So, why did the painter
plant among the women
the dog, the kittens, and the birds?
Perhaps they are not mere decorations?
What if they are there to show
we are all in the same mess?
Or maybe they have the answers
to all the questions on the test,
and choose wisely to keep quiet?