It Does Not Matter That It Does Not Matter Poem by Shalom Freedman

IT DOES NOT MATTER THAT IT DOES NOT MATTER

It does not matter that it does not matter
And it does matter if it matters
What matters and what doesn’t matter
Does matter and doesn’t-
And all our words
All our formulations
Are Dust and Death
And not anything but Life and Blessing-
So say what you say today
And let Paradox and Contradiction tomorrow
Be the Essence of all Future and Past Being-

Life is a Mystery
Death is a Horror
Sorrow is Sorrow
And as the Preacher says
Live most fully in the Joy of those days in which you can enjoy,
For one day whether we feel it or not
The Systems will fail,
And Goodbye will be our only Answer.