echoes

in the valley there are echoes

echoes of sound

but also echoes of light

even in the shadows.

in the valley there are lies

from you?

from me?

good intention

with misinformation

honesty on paths

of broken glass,

of metal –

smelted –

stronger, still,

are the stones, not sanded down

by the hands of fate

but by the soles of my feet

wide and bare

that have walked this path

this rocky descent

into the valley

many times over.

and the lie is not in the path,

in the shadows,

or the rocks

but in the voice that says,

“each time you walk this

it grows less painful”

when it does not,

it does not.

in the valley there are children

like you?

like me?

twenty-two and twenty-three

how grown-up can we really be?

can children feel loneliness like this?

i feel myself shrink as i climb down deeper

trying to step

up

to grow

up and up

but only growing smaller

deeper

shrinking into the valley

and into myself.

if you could reach me

when i reach the bottom

maybe i will be small enough to fit

in the palm of your hand.

will you hold me like a child

when i ascend from the depths?

in the valley there is silence

because of you?

because of me?

radio

or otherwise

intentional

or just overflowing apathy

but regardless of reasons

even static cannot push through

when the line is dead

between you and me.

will i be silent in the grave

when

sometime in the future

you find me again?

but what,

i wonder,

on these rare occasions,

can i hear echoing against this stone

and that

and back again?

maybe in the valley

i am not alone,

maybe you have descended with me

on the opposite side

and we will both walk until we meet,

no longer silent in solitude,

in the middle.

in the valley there is hope

in you?

in me?

there is hope

i repeat

i repeat

there is hope, dear self,

in the pounding of your feet.

by divine help, in heavenly strength

i lift off

with each step

from the stone,

growing closer

with each step

to the place

where the light is.

it is not there,

yet,

maybe around the corner?

maybe you are waiting for me there

or maybe i will leave you behind

in the dark.

but it will not matter

i will not think of you at all

once i am bathed

again

in the light.

in the valley there are echoes

echoes of sound

of voices,

yours,

God’s,

but also echoes of light

even in the shadows.