Echoes of Emotion

In the hollow halls of memory's maze Voices call out from long departed days Each word and phrase that lingers in this place Bursts forth again with untamed grace Like echoes down a canyon's stony walls With no regard for reason's usual laws Without my will they shout and sing and scold Those ghostly echoes from the past's dark folds They rumble forth from somewhere deep within Erupting with a fervor to be heard Reminding me of where I've been and who I was Before experience left its marks and scars No barrier or guard can block their sound These echoes shake the firmest footing found Rattling the cages I've constructed round Terrains I thought were safe and settled ground But in their reckless repetitions there resides A chance to learn – if I quiet my mind and listen Let them speak their wild truths unrestrained And meaning make of what today seems strange For in these echoes living yet inside Beats the true pulse of all I feel and hide Long buried sous, uncovered and revived May teach me how to heal wounds scarred with time So I will walk with patience through this place And give due ear to each voice that I face Mine what wisdom still remains beneath the pain Set free what's changed, and leave behind the chains.