Echo Tripping

I once shouted into the void looking for myself
Deep in the darkness to see if there was anybody else
But there was no resonance other than the cold itself
Though a future ghost caressed me and left me with some welts

I looked for solutions in the least likely places
Through lonely nights in seedy cities driving under streetlights
And when I arrived at the edge just by a few paces
From the cliff I heard an echo that gave me quite the fright

Those welts came back again like a soft swift reminder
My yesterdays don’t define me or dictate the road ahead
And yet somewhere along the way I became kinder
Shaping me into a new concept of myself instead

From time to time I find old verses I penned and spilled
The screams from nightmarish dreams as if I almost drowned
Now the echoes return with a cacophonous gild
Along with words from other poets who also found the sound