Of Leaf

“Let’s talk of leaves,” She said.

God’s Own Creation

“An unusual request!” I said a little surprised.

“Why ?” She asked innocently

I averted her query and replied, “Leaf as in the cluster of greens swaying in soft breeze on the scaly branches of those tall, ageless trees?”

“No!” Her tone was soft yet firm.

“Leaf as in the yellowed pages of those torn tomes lying askew on the shelves of that forsaken library across the street?” I queried once more hopeful that this time I will get a perfect answer. An unequivocal “yes” or “no”.

But I was wrong. She baffled me with her next retort.

“Leaf as of life!!!!”

“Life?”

“Yes! As you turn the leaf to start afresh….a new beginning! A new lease of deep breath!”

“And the warmth of the sky mingles with the smile in your eyes. With stretched arms one wishes to hug the space in a warm embrace…Yes I get you…Leaf is just not leaf…It is something more… a hint of a venture unintended … a pause unpremeditated…perhaps a serendipitous awakening … a gleam of sunshine peeking through thick canopy of foliage….” I said

“Right! Now you know?” Her cheeks dimples in unexpected delight.

I wanted more but she was abrupt in her parting ways.

“I leave you behind with a novel thought, a revelation of sort….a realization priceless”

“Leaf is just not leaf….it is that plucked pearly moment that bejewels memory and embellishes your garden of now with the flavour of the unforgettable yesterday…a thread between what is and what will be….on the dusty pathway like a forgiven dream… a cadence that could have been a melodious ditty but ditched midway …lost….stolen by time”

Envious of her quick wit and effervescent presence I try stall her passage yet she leaves in a hurry but her words chime in the wind and blush amidst the velvety petals ….. chords and colours infinite!

I am rooted still and around me is spread a thick carpet of leaves …. red, brown, yellow, green and even blue! Rich, redolent, ruins of a bygone spring… the echo is still crooning in my ears lullaby of soporific remembrances!

And in the midst of those misty lilts, flows a frothy wave of mellifluous strains…”Leaf is just not leaf….just not leaf….just not leaf….it is something more…of life’s nascent theme….. ”

My Interpretation