An Echo

Writer: Mariam Elsanabry

Editor: Abdulelah Ba Tarfi


An echo that I hear far away,

A sound I hear everyday. 

Loud and quiet.

Dark and bright.

A different voice every night.

It’s not unknown;

I know this voice.

“It’s you.”
“IT’S YOU.”
I heard it scream 

A siren in my sleep.

I wake up – afraid – and weep 

No, I am not weak;

They were just too loud this week.

I play my songs.

Solace I seek;

Numbness I greet.

I need to wake up from this nightmare.

Who are you?! 

What are you doing to me?!

“Sleep,” I heard it whisper.

“Sleep. You’ll know the answer.”

I wake up in my dream and see

A different person in front of me.

“Who are you?!” I asked again.

“I am someone you met in the past.” 

I turn around and see

Another one in front of me.

“You… you resemble me.”

But taller I see.

Older he seems.

He smiled at me.

Different angles.

Different views.

A wide vast mirror and I saw us one and the same.

I greeted the future me.

And left the past me.

Farewell old past me.

The last echo came from my past life:

“I regret no sin I’ve done.”

I forgive myself for all that’s done.

For to be wicked is to be alive.

For to live you have to thrive.