The Haunting of Echoes
By John Herlihy

I
Because of its mystery we feel enchanted by an echo,
In the same way we stand in awe at the sight of a rainbow.
Shout out anything and the echo will replay,
Word for word what you had to say.
In the mountains, hikers shout a blustering hello,
Hoping the highlands will answer with a bellow.
Indeed, the echo faithfully returns,
Ricocheting across the thin surface of the air,
As pure imitation that comes back thrillingly to haunt,
Like the ghost in the mirror our feelings to taunt.

II
The voice assumes an immortal quality echoing down the valleys,
With a life of their own as they roam through narrow alleys,
As if the mountains were speaking without a tongue,
Just as flowers whisper when from the earth they have sprung.
A pact with the devil it has seemingly devised,
The haunting echoes can reverberate as anguished cries.
Echoes often repeat their answer in diminishing waves,
Their reply fading and then dying, leaving silence behind,
Covering the entire region with a blanket all around,
More than echoes were talking without making much sound.

III
Despair stood at the edge of the abyss,
Its idle voice sounding surprisingly like a hiss,
Then cried in anguish: “Is there anyone down there?”
The echo merely replied with a soulful despair.
Hope cried out into the silence of the mountainous gloom;
The echo came back with a voice of resounding doom.
The brave heart sang forth with the voice of an angelic tenor,
The echo came back with the sounds of a heavenly tremor.
A timid voice whispered her secret into Nature’s ear.
The whisper came back in a rush as a cruel jeer.

IV
With finesse and care echoes repeat the human message.
Hark! Listen! I hear sound on Nature’s tongue.
To sing an unheard melody never before sung,
In sympathy, nature’s voice has summoned another sound.
Out of the silence another mystery has been found,
Haunting like innocent ghosts uttering a witty sally,
Then echo these sweet nothings across the mountain valley,
Unearthly voices searching around and all around,
Until they find a home again as wisdom in human ears,
A haunting echo that serves us well across the years.