desiccation
takes time,

though when complete
things are less fetid and foul
  
it helps if left uncovered  
for the sun’s pineapple golden rays
to do their job, for the elements
to commune with this immovable feast
for maggots to have their fill

rain doesn’t necessarily get in the way  
of this inevitable decay, for the moisture
does not tarry, on hairless felled apes  

children go more quickly than soldiers  
(less bulk and not clad in such armor)
but the most Herculean eventually succumb  
to songlike soft breezes    
and chemistry’s melodic dance  

slowly, slowly in the wind  
listen, you will hear them  
though they utter not a word