A Ritual to Read to Each Other
A Ritual to Read to Each Other
Original Text
Stafford, William. The Way It Is: New & Selected Poems. St. Paul, MN: Graywolf Press, 1998: 75-76.
1If you don't know the kind of person I am
2and I don't know the kind of person you are
3a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
4and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.
5For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,
6a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break
7sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood
8storming out to play through the broken dyke.
9And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,
10but if one wanders the circus won't find the park,
11I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty
12to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.
13And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,
14a remote important region in all who talk:
15though we could fool each other, we should consider---
16lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.
17For it is important that awake people be awake,
18or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
19the signals we give---yes or no, or maybe---
20should be clear: the darkness around us is deep.
Publication Start Year
1960
Publication Notes
West of Your City.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire, assisted by Ana Berdinskikh
RPO Edition
2009
Rhyme
Form