"It is [a poet's] privilege to help man endure by lifting his heart, by reminding him of the courage and honor and hope and pride and compassion and pity and sacrifice which have been the glory of his past. The poet's voice need not merely be the record of the man, it can be one of the props, the pillars to help him endure and prevail."

  —William Faulkner

Navigating today's changing times McConaughey reflects on trying to starve off the cynics' disease & remain a hopeful skeptic, an optimistic believer. Realizing that for himself, the academic and mathematic equations don't add up or give evidence to remain this way.

Excerpt— "With an epidemic of half-cocked logic and illusions being sold as sound conclusions, it's more than hard to know what to believe in; it's hard to believe. But I don't want to quit believing, and I don't want to stop believing in... humanity, you, myself, our potential. I'm not ready to concede that doubt's worth more than hope... I often find myself walking away from all the knowledge and reality more confused, more frustrated, and less well-advised than i was before I consumed it."

He notes "Let's believe in more than the world can conclude, let inspiration interrupt our appointments, dream our way to reality... Forget logic, certainty... let's go beyond what we can merely imagine and believe in the poetry of life." Poems & Prayers is full of personal stories, poems, and wisdom, written to inspire hope & creativity. 

HEARTLINE.

It's a one way street to everything at all

a lead pipe cinch for not far to fall

it'll never get me high enough to see what's down below

I'm gonna need more elevation 

to heartline my show.

In this poem he's noticing whatever he is pursuing isn't lifting him far enough to gain any “real” perspective anymore. “I'm gonna need more elevation to heartline my show.” Suggests he's craving a higher vantage point, or "purpose" to chase that will allow him to feel more. McConaughey writes, "Everything was easy, what else did I need? The problem was that not enough of it meant enough to me... I needed to bloody my own nose, make a change." 

Cheers to having the courage to search... to understanding that the seeking is as close as we can get to finding it... of constant pursuit, yet, a privileged path.