Doesn't Matter

it doesn't matter darling,

it really doesn't matter,

and i don't say

it doesn't matter,

in order to hurt you into feeling:

that it DOES MATTER,

that it REALLY DOES MATTER.

not at all,

not at all.

i stand beside you

in the midst of this vast enterprise

of human activity and desire,

deafened by the noise

of my own heart,

twisted by an appetite

for justice and for peace,

and i look at you,

the one i tried to love,

the one who tried to love me,

and it comes to us

from the place where we began,

the place where we will end,

a voice that includes

your voice, and my voice,

and we are

gathered together,

we are born together,

and we die in each other's arms,

and it is heard as a mighty voice,

or a gentle voice,

a whispered voice,

or a thundered voice,

above all,

the voice that we most

desperately

long to hear,

it is the voice that can forgive us,

and it says,

it doesn't matter

darling,

it is the truth,

the truth of all forgiving.

listen now. listen from

the wreck of your baffled love.

it is the truth,

the very truth

of all forgiving.

it doesn't matter darling.

it really doesn't matter.