Whatever matters is a small thing.
For, the essence is what matters,
the rest is the residual thing.
Break down all the definitions
what remains unbroken matters,
the rest is but a verbal thing.
If ‘God’ is another word for love
‘religion’ is one for compassion
and that’s all that really matters,
the rest is a theoretical thing.
Home is a haven happy and safe
within walls and without
if margins divide not the minds
and that’s about all that matters,
the rest is a geographical thing.
Culture is just lip service
if it hesitates to stand for right.
Come what may in its way
if it stands for one and all
that’s above all what matters,
the rest is a hypothetical thing.
Ideal is all, and only, up to you.
Unity, peace, equality,
equity or what you will.
Polity is not a state of compromise
but a selfless process for a common goal.
What else could ever matter?
The rest, whatever, is a rhetorical thing.
Life is a gushing river
a constant flow of change
rushing towards the infinite sea.
Leave behind all you own
– or think you own –
unburden them on the shores.
The soul – only the soul – will ever matter.
The rest – all of it – is an infinitesimal thing.
Sujatha Warrier
Sujatha Warrier lives in Kochi, India. She is a writer and editor by profession, and a poet and translator by passion. Her articles and poems have appeared in magazines, online portals, literary journals and anthologies. The Attic & Other Poems is a collection of her poems, with illustrations. Fireflies is a collection of her micropoems. Totally Owordosed (http://www.sujathawarrier.com/) is her blog. She has received awards and jury recommendations for her poetry. Most recently, she received the Panorama Literary Award 2020. She can be reached at [email protected].
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