Decay

Warm, moist, and rotting
it creates a heat all its own;
composting the year’s fallen leaves
and offering haven to a world of bugs
and worms that turn old to new.
Deep, pungent, earthy aroma of fungus
stirred by the toe of my shoe.
It surrounds me, almost suffocatingly so,
filling my nose with the scent of mushrooms
and whispering inside my mind of the promise
of Spring and new life to come.