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A Ritual To Read To Each Other Lyrics by William Stafford

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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.
Credits
William Stafford

William Stafford

About “A Ritual To Read To Each Other” by William Stafford

Read the complete lyrics to "A Ritual To Read To Each Other" by William Stafford. On Lyrks you can follow along with the full text, explore the artist's discography, and discover related songs. The track is often categorized under Non-Music, Literature.

"A Ritual To Read To Each Other" is performed by William Stafford. This page provides the full lyric text for fans who want to sing along, study the songwriting, or compare versions across releases. Lyrks organizes lyrics by artist and song slug so you can bookmark and share a stable URL. Music lyrics help listeners connect with emotion, narrative, and rhythm in a track. Whether you are learning English, researching a favorite chorus, or preparing for karaoke, having accurate line breaks and section labels (verse, chorus, bridge) makes the experience easier. We link to the official artist profile on Lyrks where available, including biography snippets, top songs, and chart placements when we have that data. If you enjoy "A Ritual To Read To Each Other", explore more songs by William Stafford using the links below. Chart and trending pages on Lyrks highlight what listeners are searching for this week. For copyright or correction requests, see our DMCA and contact pages.

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Frequently asked questions

"A Ritual To Read To Each Other" is credited to William Stafford. Songwriting credits may include additional writers listed on the release; check the credits section on this page for linked collaborators.

Album information for "A Ritual To Read To Each Other" is not available in our database yet. You can still read the full lyrics on this page.

Visit the William Stafford artist page at /artist/william-stafford for biography, popular tracks, and links to more lyric pages.