I witnessed the death
of an echo today
watched it fall, muffled
by an unforgiving brick wall
before being swallowed up
in its entirety
by a howl of wind
and the grating teeth
of near silence

this unlikely termination
left a loss of words and feelings
because I couldn't be quite sure
if it had been an echo borne
of a scream or a laugh
a shout of joy
or a sob of heartbreak

with such vital information
now permanently undetermined,
who can say whether
there was ever really a death at all
perhaps more appropriately,
only an end
to a mere moment
in the unrelenting span
of  indistinct existences