Welcome to Poetically Yours. Poetically Yours showcases poems by northern Illinois poets. This week’s featured poet is Judy Cummings.
Cummings is a northern Illinois poet and teacher. She is a member of the Illinois State Poetry Society, Poets & Patrons, and Rockford Writers' Guild. Here’s what she shared about this week’s poem.
“It's easy to overlook love. Last October, after a close health call, I reflected upon what matters most, hence the poem ‘The Matter.’ Care, extended to us during times of need by our partners, parents, teachers, co-workers, and health care workers is ultimately all that truly matters in life,” Cummings said. “On this Valentine's Day, I'd like to thank the Cardiology Department at UW/ Swedes for their care and especially thank Dr, Seifeldin Eid of the North Mulford UW/ Swedes Immediate Care Clinic in Rockford whose thoughtful, quick action saved the two-quarter-time heart beats of my life partner and best friend.”
The Matter
Does this matter, matter?
Why, yes, I'd say, so
all manner of matter can make
our world grow.
Trees fall in the forest
with trunks rough to touch
to worm, man, and land
this matters so much.
Matter atomic
discerned by the Greeks
“will not be divided,”
small blocks so discrete.
Does this matter matter?
Certainly, “yes,”
but how matter 's defined
is still anyone's guess.
Snow, sea, or cloud
solid, liquid, or gas
northern lights, stars
does such matter last?
Which matters do matter?
Is it a new yacht?
a blue leather Gucci?
granite countertops?
A 5000 square foot
cape cod on Redfin?
Does the house matter more
than the people within?
These matters don't matter
not ever, no, not...
No matter that matters
should rust, spoil or rot.
But helping a tot
find a good book to read,
or giving the homeless
the food that they need...
What matters on earth is
spinning round, free
a space-time continuum
of you and of me!
It's matters of heart
and matters of soul,
the things that we give
and what makes us whole.
Life seems to accelerate
faster and faster
and particles small
may produce a disaster
Proton, electron,
up quark and down
leptons and hadrons
of matter we're bound.
But as time goes by
what matters most here
is the way that you hold me
each time we are near,
the way that our hearts beat
in two-quarter time,
the way that I know
all that matters is mine.
