In the End, the End.

The slightly rotting
image of an orange
too much moisture
creates mold
mold that heals

The orange itself sprouts
from a tree that grows
itself upon the thick,
life-supporting earth
the earth of mud and clay
the clay along the hillside
and the riverbank
the clay that pregnant
women sometimes
feel inexplicably drawn to
to devour the clay
from the life supporting earth

Beneath the orange
beneath the tree
under the clay
we reach what some
would call the soul
or maybe the qi
or lifeforce

In the End, the End.

but it is a simpler thing
that resides there, perhaps
a battery, or a countdown timer
pulsing, or ticking down
counting the seconds
until there is nothing left
and all life and movement
cease.