Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Janice Mirikitani’s "What Matters" is a profound and multifaceted exploration of love, survival, and resilience in the face of personal and collective trauma. The poem deftly intertwines deeply personal memories with larger global and historical crises, creating a meditation on what sustains us amidst adversity. Through its layered imagery, juxtaposition of beauty and brutality, and insistent questioning of what truly matters, the poem challenges conventional notions of love and art, redefining them as acts of sustenance and resistance.

The poem opens with the speaker addressing a question: “The things that matter you ask, where is love?” This inquiry sets the stage for a deconstruction of idealized notions of love, beauty, and serenity. The speaker contrasts romanticized images—“The poem soft as linen dried by the sun” and “cherry blossoms arranged”—with the stark realities of survival and suffering. This juxtaposition signals the poem’s central tension: the disconnect between aestheticized visions of love and the messy, painful, and essential acts of care and endurance that truly matter.

Mirikitani weaves traditional Japanese imagery—persimmons, cherry blossoms, and plums—into the poem, but subverts their expected associations with harmony and simplicity. Instead, these symbols are tied to memories of hardship and resilience. The persimmons sweating in a bowl evoke the speaker’s mother hiding pennies and essential supplies “for that day when all would be taken.” This reference to Japanese American internment camps underscores the precarity of their existence and the resourcefulness required to endure such upheaval. The persimmons, once a symbol of abundance and beauty, become a marker of survival.

The narrative shifts to the speaker’s grandfather, whose act of killing her cat is rendered with unsettling clarity. His rationale—that survival sometimes demands brutal choices—underscores the harsh realities faced by generations who lived through war, displacement, and poverty. This memory, while painful, is framed within the context of love: a love that is pragmatic and unflinching, tied to the preservation of life amidst scarcity.

The poem broadens its scope to include acts of care and compassion in the present. The speaker’s husband, described as embracing “the wilted shoulders of the wretched,” embodies a love that extends beyond the personal to the communal. His words are “like spoons, nourishing,” offering sustenance to those in need. Similarly, the speaker’s daughter, who mourns for endangered species and crusades against environmental destruction, represents a love for the world and its vulnerable creatures. These acts of love are not romanticized; they are grounded in action, empathy, and a commitment to justice.

Mirikitani situates these personal narratives within a broader context of global suffering. The litany of crises—“the dread of nuclear winter, Chernobyl’s catastrophe, Three Mile Island, Nevada’s test veterans… genocide of drugs, AIDS, toxic waste”—serves as a sobering reminder of the pervasive threats to life and dignity. Yet, even amidst this backdrop of destruction, the poem insists on the necessity of love, framed as an act of resistance and survival. The repetition of “What matters” throughout the poem reinforces this urgency, reminding the reader that even in the face of overwhelming loss, certain acts and values endure.

The poem concludes with a haiku, a form traditionally associated with clarity, brevity, and nature’s beauty. Here, it is repurposed to encapsulate the essence of what matters: “Clear water passing / our mouths unafraid to breathe, / and to speak freely.” This simple yet profound image highlights the fundamental importance of life’s essentials—water, breath, and voice. It underscores the power of speaking truth and reclaiming agency, even in the face of oppression and fear.

Mirikitani’s language throughout the poem is both evocative and precise, blending personal memory with political critique. The interplay of tender, domestic imagery with stark depictions of violence and injustice creates a tension that propels the poem forward, challenging the reader to reconcile these seemingly disparate elements. The poem’s structure, moving between personal vignettes and global crises, mirrors the interconnectedness of the individual and the collective, the personal and the political.

"What Matters" is a deeply moving meditation on the resilience of love and the human spirit. By grounding abstract concepts in concrete, lived experiences, Mirikitani redefines love as an active force that sustains and resists, rather than merely comforts. The poem invites readers to reconsider their own values and to find meaning in the essential acts that connect us to one another and to the world. It is both a tribute to those who endure and a call to action, urging us to recognize what truly matters.

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