The Lemon Grass Leaf

I had picked up a lemon grass leaf
On a walk through the wilderness.
A souvenir, it would be, I thought
To reminisce the day's scenic frames. 

As I cleaved off the tip of the leaf
It let off an aroma, engulfing the woods. 
Fascinated, yet numbed by the fragrance,
I was reminded of the girl with many moods.

Carefully, I preserved it in my hands
Hoping to smell it often, as I trudged back;
My hands became the leaf, and the leaf my hands
Forgetting life, beyond the forest track. 

But when the time came, for me to reach home,
I found the leaf to be shrunken and brown;
All that was left, were traces of its scent,
As a memory of the leaf, I could not own. 
Artwork by: Tanmayee Chakraborty

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