The Echo

by Carl Little

“I love the sound. Brave. It echoes love.”

--Stanley Kunitz

How brave it is to love, 
to love is to be brave, 

brave love, I love you. 
Are you brave enough

to love me in return?
Ah, love, let us be brave 

with one another. 
We call out “love” 

on Echo Lake and 
“brave” comes floating

over the water. 
“Courage, mon vieux,”

be brave, old friend,
my love, my lover, 

my brave beloved.