drip drip drip drip opened wounds infect murky soil a vanquished corpse poisoning each leaf and branch and trunk with sour taste and rotten aroma a dead core bringing no heat streams and lakes with heavy waters impossible to swim nights an hour shorter days two hours longer the decayed crops and perverse time merely widened the hole in a vengeful heart a world cursed and sick and broken a cure unknown yet they find reason to persist and keep on living on an earthly cadaver