Welcome to Poetically Yours. Poetically Yours showcases poems by northern Illinois poets. This week’s poet is Judy Cummings.
Cummings works as a tutor at Spectrum Progressive School and teaches privately on Zoom, where she helps students of all ages.
She is a member of the Illinois State Poetry Society and Poets & Patrons. Her work has been published in the “Sunflowers Rising: Poets for Peace," proceeds from which benefit children orphaned due to war.
Here’s her poem “To All That Remains.”
Child, pluck courage from what's wild,
from dandelion roots, deep to survive icy winters,
from a robin's roundelay, spirited to sing before sunrise
from a wolf's howl, steadfast to protect its pack.
Gather good from listening
to old-growth forests, free-flowing rivers,
whispering willows, to all that remains
unbroken, unbounded, untamed.
While grown-ups wander mall-to-mall,
heads bowed to cell screens, all
praying to an unseen god,
you, child, must collect courage.
You must seek wisdom in places unpeopled,
Forests roamed by foxes,
Seas skimmed by dolphins,
Clouds brushed by condors.
Hold to that raw, restless, rebellious part of your self,
to that wide wildness of the human heart
which will find no peace save in Nature —
that Nature may save you.