"TWO POEMS FROM THIS MORNING 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 dike. 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. Deeply grateful to Helen Gerhardt for this: ............................ I know, I know If you could go back you would walk with Jesus You would march with King Maybe assassinate Hitler At least hide Jews in your basement It would all be clear to you But people then, just like you were baffled, had bills to pay and children they didn’t understand and they too were so desperate for normalcy they made anything normal Even turning everything inside out Even killing, and killing, and it’s easy for turning the other cheek to be looking the other way, for walking to be talking, and they hid in their houses and watched it on television, when they had television, and wrung their hands or didn’t, and your hands are just like theirs. Lined, permeable, small, and you would follow Caesar, and quote McCarthy, and Hoover, and you would want to make Germany great again Because you are afraid, and your parents are sick, and your job pays s@$t and where’s your dignity? Just a little dignity and those kids sitting down in the highway, and chaining themselves to buildings, what’s their f@*#king problem? And that kid That’s King. And this is Selma. And Berlin. And Jerusalem. And now is when they need you to be brave. Now is when we need you to go back and forget everything you know and give up the things you’re chained to and make it look so easy in your grandkids’ history books (they should still have them, kinehora) Now is when it will all be clear to them. ~Danny Bryck Jim Wiegel 401 North Beverly Way, Tolleson, Arizona 85353 Tel. 011-623-936-8671 or 011-623-363-3277 jfwiegel@yahoo.com www.partnersinparticipation.com "We are no longer living in an era of change. We are living in a change of era." Francis Upcoming public course opportunities click here http://partnersinparticipation.com/?page_id=10 For online registration go to http://www.top-training.net The AZ ToP® Community of Practice meets the 1st Friday, 1-4 pm, starting again on Sept 5th at ACYR, 648 N. 5th Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85003 AICP Planners: 14.5 CM for all ToP® courses