from “A Ritual to Read to Each Other”

...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.

~William Stafford