Poemusart of the Day

Awake in the Deep Dark

Music by Elias Thorne · Poem by William Stafford · Art by Corinne Vale

The Poem

A Ritual To Read To Each Other Poem 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.

About the Poem

William Stafford’s "A Ritual To Read To Each Other" explores the fragile necessity of honest human connection. The poem presents a scene of two people who do not truly know one another, warning that without this understanding, inherited patterns and false guides can lead us away from our true purpose. The mood is urgent and sobering, as Stafford likens small betrayals—a mental shrug, a broken sequence—to a crack in a dyke that lets childhood errors storm through. He extends the metaphor with elephants holding each other’s tails in a parade: if one wanders, the whole circus loses its way. The stakes are high, for the darkness around us is deep. Stafford calls for clear signals and mutual wakefulness, arguing that to know what occurs yet fail to acknowledge it is the root of cruelty. The work is ultimately a plea for deliberate, truthful communication to keep our shared lives from getting lost.

About the Music

The Seven Ages by Elias Thorne

Elias Thorne’s The Seven Ages is a haunting ambient classical piece that unfolds at a slow, deliberate tempo, built around sparse, resonant piano notes that linger in the air like fading memories. Deep cello undertones provide a warm, somber foundation, while a faint, distant harpsichord adds an antique, sepia-toned texture, evoking the quiet ache of time’s passage. The mood is deeply melancholy and reflective, inviting the listener into a state of quiet contemplation that recalls the introspective minimalism of composers like Harold Budd or the ethereal soundscapes of modern ambient classical. Thorne masterfully balances silence and sound, creating a sonic meditation on life’s fleeting stages, from youth to old age. This piece is ideal for those seeking music for introspection, study, or moments of peaceful solitude, where each note feels like a breath drawn from a bygone era.

About the Art

The Fragile Parade by Corinne Vale

In The Fragile Parade, Corinne Vale creates a dreamlike Symbolist scene where two stylized, shadowed figures stand in the lower left third of the canvas, facing one another without meeting each other’s gaze, connected only by a faint, glowing thread. Dramatic chiaroscuro, with a single soft light source from above left, casts deep, long shadows across the composition, while the rich jewel tones of deep indigo, burnt umber, and gold emerge from a vast inky black background. Vale’s visible, deliberate oil brushstrokes give weight to the figures and a tactile quality to the surrounding darkness. Behind them, stretching into the upper right, a ghostly parade of elephant silhouettes fades into the deep blackness, with the main focal point resting in the charged space between the two human figures. The work evokes the psychological intensity of Odilon Redon, blending figurative and allegorical elements with precise, haunting atmosphere.

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