Does It Matter?
Spoken word version
by David Palethorpe
Does it matter—
what they think?
Does it matter—
what they say?
Their words…
drip like poison,
but they never reach the core.
They shout, they sneer, they whisper—
and yet, truth does not bend.
If it’s built on lies,
it collapses.
If it’s sharpened with spite,
it dulls itself in time.
The crowd may judge,
the crowd may laugh,
the crowd may turn away—
but the crowd is not your compass.
Still—
do not mistake their noise as harmless.
Every drop of venom leaves a stain,
a wound in someone else’s day,
a shadow that lingers longer than the sound.
Cruelty corrodes,
even when it misses its mark.
Listen.
The only thing that matters,
when the noise has died,
when the night is quiet,
when you’re left with nothing but yourself—
is this:
Did you stay honest?
Did you stay true?
Because if you did—
you’ve already won.
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