The echo

At the quarry an echo
has got ahead of its voice.
All morning it has been shouting
a name into the bracken.

A man arrives with a hammer
and a paper bag of bread.
He hears himself calling
from the far face
and takes the path around.

The path ends in loose stone.
He taps the rock once.
Something answers so softly
he has to kneel to hear.

He presses his ear to the rock.
Someone inside clears his throat.
Then his own voice asks him
to stand a little further back.