A Ritual To Read To Each Other

A Ritual To Read To Each Other

By: William Stafford

If you don't know the kind of person I am
and I don't know the kind of person you are
a pattern that others made may prevail in the world
and following the wrong god home we may miss our star.

For there is many a small betrayal in the mind,
a shrug that lets the fragile sequence break
sending with shouts the horrible errors of childhood
storming out to play through the broken dyke.

And as elephants parade holding each elephant's tail,
but if one wanders the circus won't find the park,
I call it cruel and maybe the root of all cruelty
to know what occurs but not recognize the fact.

And so I appeal to a voice, to something shadowy,
a remote important region in all who talk:
though we could fool each other, we should consider--
lest the parade of our mutual life get lost in the dark.

For it is important that awake people be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep;
the signals we give--yes or no, or maybe--
should be clear: the darkness around us is deep. 

I love this poem. 

It reminds me that I have a responsibility to stand out and make a difference in the world.

The poem reminds me of the traditions, cultures, and beliefs in life that we so often follow without a second thought.  For many, having a second thought is not an option.  For us, in the United States of America, having a second and third and fourth thought are encouraged and praised.  It is with this freedom to think and speak that we can express our ideologies and opinions in a way that others can be touched and changed. 

How important it is then, to be the kind of person that can break the pattern that holds so many in a frame of iridescent time. 

Whether a person has religion, morals or just feelings about being different doesn’t matter.  The fact that an individual “knows what occurs, but is still willing to “recognize the fact” makes things in this world change. 

Change is good and standing out has never been easier and better.  Each individual in this world is so vast and different that it is impossible to realize the potential in each one.  The times where great things have happened, is when one person realizes their own powerful potential and becomes the catalyst of change others could not be.

The United States of America has the First Amendment which encourages the differences we all bring to the table, yet it is still so difficult to ascertain why being different is so wrong, so hard, so different.  It contradicts the very core of the constitution that sought a change and fought passionately in the cause of a dream, a goal, a realization.

I believe this poem is a statement to all to be different, to realize the need and beauty of being different.  Expression, knowledge, ideas- they empower.  America has become great because of these ideals.

So next time we see someone, something different – instead of looking and cocking our head to one side, in a defiant judgmental way, I hope we remember that person is beautiful.  Beautiful because they have come to the realization who they are and what they stand for.  Let us stop being so discriminatory and indulge in the freshness someone else’s passion brings to the world. 

We are different – and its never been more beautiful.