Something goes on here,
the echo magic. We step over
the spot and echoes bounce from our voices.

The warehouse, vacant, old stone steps
lead us up into light,
places where the sky peeks in.
Art will come. This space will be holy

prayers will seep into old bricks
and anoint those who wander
up toward the light

or down into caverns, brittle riverbeds
where feet stumble
and toes bleed from sharp stones.
In this worn city warehouse

rusty machines echo work
of the past. We step over debris;
we step over tired ghosts,

we give up what was lost.
The echo tells us to love hard,
love strong as iron,
be free as a wheel that breaks loose.

Tulsa-based writer Ann Zoller has published two books of poems, the more recent of which is Answers from the Bowing Moon, which won the Pegasus Award from the Oklahoma Writers’ Federation. Her work has appeared in numerous literary journals, university press publications, and anthologies.