warmth

The warmth seeps in for the first time in decades,
crocuses peek from under the snow,
and somewhere in a forest north of here
a bundle of rot trapped in the ice
thaws and begins to stink, slow
at first, a memory of a distant life:
the stench is overwhelming,
like molded coffee, like
half-eaten cheeseburgers.
How funny his hands look where the
gloves are torn, like the swollen white worms
that gorge in the earth.
The warmth seeps in for the first time in decades,
and hungry eyes peek from under the snow.