Matter

Am I just matter?
Or Do I matter?

Am I just matter or do I matter?

Am I just matter, do I matter?

Am I matter, do I matter?

Am I matter do I matter

What's the matter with me?

Lately I've been living life laterally

It's hard to progress when my mind is under duress

About a question I must take mind to address

And keeping it internal has seemed an infernal mission

Quizzing all content concerning the eternal decision

No, this is not a manner to be contained within thought

I present to you, right now, my cerebral court

Two trusted personas to debate the matter at hand

The case for 'just matter', please take the stand

Let me be clear. Let me precise.

We all just physical objects, like ice.

We must live in a world with rational rules and laws.

This is as true as the fact we must all have flaws.

If I cut my skin, I will bleed.

If I give birth to kin, my genes proceed.

So let me lead to the junction which will cause duress:

We are all just functions, very complicated yes,

But processes. Predictable if we had the power.

Yet we're limited by thought, by space, by the hour.

Ticking away until our final day.

When the clockwork stops.

And we drop.

This was not meant to be nice. But it's the default case.

Take my advice - accept this approach's embrace.

If we're matter, then that's all we are.

To claim anything else would just be bizarre.

We're structured. We're planned. It's the way we must be.

Stop fighting what must happen naturally.

How arrogant. You sheltered little human whole.

That's whole the entire, because there's no such thing as a soul.

Am I matter do I matter

Am I matter do I matter

Am I matter do I matter

What's the matter with me?

Let me speak up, I'm meant to represent argument number 2

All I can do is speak honestly of what I believe to be true

I wont try to force the manner, nor deny much of what was said

You are right now living. You will one day be dead.

But let's stop looking at the scale we live at each day

Think instead of the time with no yesterday

There was an origin to how this universe came to be

It continues slowly, following entropy

These things we've observed, are our best guess to be true

As for what is before and after? We have no clue.

Quantum, that most curious of current conclusions

Would have once been laughed at, just like fission and fusion

Our knowledge has holes. And these can blow up our views

Of how the world is supposed to be, and though we are given some clues

If we knew of an afterlife, few would remain on this Earth

We know as little after death as where we come from at birth

Because beyond 'just matter', there really does seem to be more

Beyond our physical beings, right down to our core

Sentience is a very rare trait, and one unique so far in galaxies

So if we can move beyond fate, we can say you matter to me

Am I matter do I matter

Am I matter do I matter

Am I matter do I matter

What's the matter with me?

Hold up there, I'm the third such position,

I beg of you, give me some time and listen,

I can't hold a torch to either the first two cases,

I'm afraid my conclusion wont seem so persuasive,

But here it is, pretty much my case is just this:

Whether or not you matter, if you face an afterlife or abyss,

You must still go forward, seize each second,

Make life take you as a force with which to be reckoned,

The debate you just heard - it's by no means trivial,

Don't discard it as absurd - or even discard it at all,

But acknowledge that while the debate will rage on a while,

You must still go out and face the World with a smile,

In an Earth of just matter, then provide others some lift,

And if you matter to the Earth then be a most welcome gift,

While discussions and theory remain fanatic and pure,

You must never forget that there's other matters to explore...





I had some debate as to whether to put this poem up. I don't suffer with anxiety. I don't suffer with depression. And yet I do have existential crises from time to time. And they pass. One of the few things poetry allows me to do though, is to try to capture moments as they pass. So this is me, trying to be really honest with an internal debate. The hope is that others can see it, and realise that if they've felt such things too then they aren't alone. This isn't a cry for help, or anything close. Instead, it's an attempt at a very honest reflection. In my head, I see this being performed by 4 separate people. The core line (Am I matter...with me) would be repeated throughout by the central person.