The Other Side of July

At the toe edge of a footprint in warm dry earth
A tomato worm, ruptured, just past agony, still;
Velvet-moss skin, riven, emits yellow-green effluent,
Bulging obesity suspended in slime.

The shadow of a hand sweeps across the blight,
Dims the shining ooze and withdraws,
Leaving behind a sprig of stalk,
Ragged leaf, yellow star blossom,
And a bitterspice pungency in the air.

MLM