Echo Chamber by Valerie Parente

Reverberate
between polar opposite walls
two sides polarized
same anger, different drawls.

Surround yourself
by the hard headed
it’s like a mirror
just noise with a reflection.

The ideas you bring into the world
have a way of profound growth
as long as there’s a hardened surface
they come back one hundred fold.

This chamber, you made
thinking if the space is formal
then you can enact real change
but alas, we talk ourselves in circles.

Now did you know if it happens quick enough
the human ear can never tell
the difference between original sound
and the echoes from someone else?

So talk slow, listen carefully,
go outside, don’t stay in one room,
or the walls of your echo chamber
will eventually close in on you.

– Valerie Parente (12-7-2024)