Little white wave on a deep blue ocean
Like a green leaf in the Amazon
A twinkling star in a milky galaxy
Like an emerald in a chest of diamonds
A great king once a helpless baby
Whose rule will be a fable in time
Unlike a thief of hearts who has no beginning
This is a storyteller’s dream without an end
Changing mores of men to come
Hidden in minds like water in trees
The rise of sap is a miracle of sorts
Any other way would be a fall from grace
As spring’s blossoms laid things bare
Autumn's fall revived it all
Unpredictable are the seasons to come
Only in the land where minds come from
For the mist to clear
Raindrops must fall
When the mind’s a mist
Thoughts will not drop
A mind in mire is a well of depth
Like a frog it jumps from end to end
Can one light a lamp in water?
And how does water travel to the clouds above?
When sun shines from a heavenly abode
Daytime reveries take the mind away
Webbed feet remain stuck with the glue of misery
As dreamy vapors whisks the frog to a sycamore tree
A leafy abode sitting on mottled bark
Appearances hide the gem within
Every leaf destined to fall
A green life turning to a bed of brown
What the eyes measure in months and years
The mind will see as seconds of time
A falling leaf is a brief interlude to many
A lifetime it is for a leaf that travels to the ground
A tree frog’s lot is a camouflaged one
When it is green on green, nothing is seen
An invisible spectre visible to all
Pick any leaf, why look very far
As the leaf carrying the frog started its fall
A magic carpet welcomed by all
Time freezes in pleasure and pain
Life on a leaf will journey on
A gust of wind spun the leaf around
The frog was left with a wingless plane
As the leaf sought ground the frog spoke to the sky
Their lives intertwined as the day wore on
As it covered the leaf in a yard of cloth
The frog desired another abode
Temporary garbs for a transient home
How can one take a jewel to a mountain of gold?
As the leaf rested on a bed of air
A warm draft at the season’s end
Will not betray the arrival of fall
How will they survive the cold at night?
The leafy ground seems a speck from above
Gone were the windy days, the best of times
Hours and seconds travel as one
As the days shrink, falling leaves gather around
A shelter for the body is roof and shingle
The mind is a house without a roof
Windows to the world close when it matters not
Eyelids become ornaments if one is not careful enough
A leaf once green becomes the color of rust
While the frog remains green as jade
Like the color of envy, it becomes visible with time
Mind and body don’t age as one
Beauty without is a canopy of leaves
When seasons change, can the leaves remain?
As one would stand under a tree
Beauty within provides shelter to many
As the leaf reached hallowed ground
The frog was finally free to jump around
As friends depart, tears are shed
When they meet again, laughter abounds
Rare as ice in a desert of sand
Is a mind that sees in the depth of sleep
Common as leaves grounded in fall
Is a body that feels every pain and joy
-N. Seshadri
