Poems & Prayers

“Ahhh, morning morning!”

This poem frames gratitude as an act of conscious attention rather than passive feeling. By emphasizing rest and the unearned nature of beauty, it suggests that contentment arises when one slows down and accepts what is already present. The tone reinforces the idea that peace is cultivated through awareness, not acquisition.

“Wake up in the morning and stare at the sun”

The poem opens with the instruction to stare at the sun “until seven sneezes arise” (Line 2). This is an allusion to the Biblical prophet Elijah who prays to revive a child that had just died; returning to life, the child “sneezed seven times and opened his eyes” (2 Kings 4:35). The seven sneezes thus symbolize new life flowing into the body as it awakens—here, from sleep; the sun is a life-giving force. 

The remainder of the poem is more literal. The speaker advocates stretching to set the sacrum, a bone in the lower back, and yawning. 

“Today, give me the heart to know what feels right”

This poem presents ethical decision-making as a balance between intuition, reason, and action. By assigning distinct roles to the heart, mind, and gut, it argues against purely emotional responses. The poem’s structure—representing something approaching a checklist—emphasizes deliberation, suggesting that integrity emerges from engaging multiple internal faculties rather than relying on a single impulse.

“Cheers”

The title refers to a toast, or expressing good wishes to everyone present before drinking. More figuratively, the poem’s toast is a metaphor for acknowledging the needs of others while also looking after oneself. 

The speaker wants to make space for the needs of future generations and also to follow his heart: He helps his children while wishing to grow old gracefully: “[H]elp me navigate the gray with grace” (Line 6). The intentional assonance, or repetition of words with similar sounds, of “gray” and “grace” add poetic emphasis here. 

The poem takes on a Christian cast with the description of “a man with no country here on earth” (Line 5). The line expresses the notion that human life is temporary, and our only true home is heaven. This religious cast becomes more apparent in the final two lines, which refer to the necessity of remembering the sacrifice that Christ made for all humanity. 

“As the son of what influences my character”

This poem frames moral integrity as the alignment of inner intention and outward expression with a spiritual ideal, presenting ethical clarity as something to be consciously sought rather than assumed.

“Mattering Matters”

Maximizing the use of anaphora, or the repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of each line, every line of this 26-couplet poem begins with the word “May” (Line 1). This emphasizes the nature of the poem: It is a prayer that expresses the poet’s belief that it is vitally important to be committed to a purpose. The speaker asks God to ensure that what is right and important continues to “matter,” so that the speaker can continue finding value in doing it.

Some of the goals are more obviously laudable. The speaker hopes to temper anger and other unproductive urges: “May forgiveness matter more than revenge / May restraint matter more than my binge” (Lines 5-6). He also wants to care more about honesty than convenience and shirked responsibility: “May the truth matter more than the lies” (Line 9). 

Other wishes or wants are more obscure. Among these are, “May the steel matter to the nerve” (Line 18), which may be about the courage to face potentially injurious things, and, “May space matter to time” (Line 19), which asks for the expansion of possibility. Some of the components of the prayer play with language: “May what we say matter to mean” (Line 25) pivots on the double meaning of the word “mean,” as either something that is unpleasant or a truncated form of the word “meaning.” Often, the thoughts in the two lines of the couplet have no connection, as in “May money matter to spend / May prayer matter to the bend” (Lines 37-38).  

Some of the hopes are more lighthearted. “May fun matter on vacation” (Line 40) is a reminder to enjoy time off. “May memory matter to libation” (Line 39) jokes that it is good to remember not to drink too much, or to remember what happened the last time one did so. 

“Turn Your Knowledge into Wisdom”

The poem succinctly outlines a path of personal growth and creative expression. Knowledge by itself means little; it leads to wisdom only as a result of inner reflection and understanding, which sorts out what is important and what is not. The goal is self-knowledge. Wisdom leads to the development of a personal philosophy that enables you to navigate the storms of life. “Mind yourself” (Line 4) suggests the importance of self-awareness and also taking thought about your own life and principles. A personal philosophy, however, is not the end goal. It must be turned into creativity that best suits your own life; the first example given is poetry, that is, artistic expression: “Rhyme yourself” (Line 6). Poetry then can be turned into dance and song. It does not really matter what form it takes; it just has to be a genuine, heartfelt expression of your true and deepest self. 

“Choice and Judgment Are Not”

The theme of this poem is that it is better to follow the spirit rather than the letter of the law. As he mentions in a note below the poem (199), McConaughey takes his cue from a New Testament passage: “He has made us competent as minister of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).

Lines 1-2 make it clear that making choices and judgments is necessary. Judgments do not of themselves create harm. How those judgments are arrived at and executed, however, can lead to “Unjust and cruel treatments” (Line 3). This may occur if something is lacking in the quality or the morality of the judgment. Lines 4-5 point out that if we confine ourselves to a rigid, literal interpretation of a law, without taking every factor into account—such as context, intention, and consequence—the law or rule loses its real purpose and meaning. The "precept” (Line 5), which means the rule or principle guiding conduct or action, becomes diminished when it is interpreted in a narrow, literal fashion. If, on the other hand, the spirit of the law is considered, a new perspective becomes apparent, and “Word and intention will confess” (Line 7). This means that the true meaning and intention of the law will be revealed. Thus, following the spirit of the law increases the likelihood that the “choice and judgment” described in Line 1 will be guided by a fuller understanding, and the outcome (referring back to Line 3) will be more likely to be just and less likely to be cruel.

“Doers Climb the Wrong Mountains”

The poem is about what it takes to act successfully and achieve a large goal. It states that any significant creative act, such as overcoming big obstacles in life, requires two elements. First is the ability to act, to do something that changes the status quo in some way. Second is the ability to dream, which is to have a vision that spurs a person to reach for the highest goals—the top of a mountain in the person’s life. 

Doers, people who take action, are effective in a narrow sense; they climb the mountain but left to themselves, unguided by properly directed dreams, they may climb the wrong mountain, that is, fail to choose the right objective. They need another element in order to shape and guide their actions. This is what the dreamer provides—a vision, a plan, a goal. However, the dreamer cannot accomplish much without the doer. The dreamer may falter when it comes to the practical aspects of carrying out the task. Dreamers are better with big, expansive goals but perhaps lack interest or competence in smaller tasks; they “climb the right / mountains but aren’t at / home on hills” (Lines 3-5). They need the help of doers in turning dreams into reality. They “help doers climb / the right” (Lines 8-9), mountains, that is, they provide the necessary vision and guide the doers toward the most meaningful and worthwhile objectives.