Maple's Cry

There is a beautiful small painting  in my Tharavadu, back in my native place.. Tharavadu, a place where we used to go for family get togethers, festivals or simply to see my grandma. My dad used to take us in his old Ambassador car.The journey itself was picturesque. Drive from my town and then the half hour ferry ride and then the continuation through the coconut grooves, the country side, the simple people, the familiar pets, ponds and narrow roads. 

Blissful!

So back to our painting. It shows a house and couple of trees, with few small additions.

Nothing more.. Nothing less.

But this picture was always stamped in my mind more than any other one in that house.

Ok! So we need some description here.

The house is a typical European kind, with thatched roof. The long straws lie parallel to each other and upon the other, in its own cohesive nature. The windows are big and plain with a thin green wooden frame cutting through the glass pane. The edge of the windows has a kind of rustic look, maybe because of the old iron lining. The doors are dark but bold. The knob has a heavy-looking grip. The shining of the brass is not all over the knob, but mainly on the place where the hand grip always touches on. There is a huge chimney which stands like a smokestack from a distant ship in the horizon. It is built on stones. Here and there you can see some moss. If you look very closely at the walls of the house, you can see a few iron hooks here and there, nailed. Most of them are black in color, but the rusted dusts are palpable. There is also a water mill behind the house. A spring flowing. Cobble stones pave the path from the door steps. There are picket fences, with couple of wooden planks hanging down.

Well, we have seen these kind of pictures in many places... like on those fancy calendars which we used to get just before the New Year starts.

Epoch time!

But, in this picture there was something different.

Crimson.

Yes , the picture from a distance looks like a blaze of Crimson. The gift of the good old kermes insect all over. Yes this was a picture of 'The Fall'.

Autumn.

If you come closer and examine the basis of this crimsonic make-up in this picture, you can see the different shades of leaves , but each with a crimson oriented tint. A small touch ..A small feel of crimson in every leaf, to the least.  But if u even closely revise the leaves.. the pattern.. the colors.. the shapes..;it is unspeakable!

You can see, yellow leaves here and there.. Caesious leaves hidden between the twigs. Rough brown bark with the claw marks of some chipmunks. Rufous tiny branches.. Some leaves still lazy to move from the leek green to another. Some which are half way and then decided to postpone their journey! The ground beneath looks like a carpet woven in leaves. Saffron-coloured maple leaves. Grass hairs still stretched between the fallen leaves to save the dew drops for the next day.

The ground looks flammeous.

And I wonder.. Who had started this magic.

Is nature the real Houdini , trying to hypnotise the illusive mind of humans! Can it mesmerise human eyes like this! Can it voyage us to a world where brushes are living and palettes are inmates!

Even as years passed by, this picture was always there in that wall. Same place with that nail bound to the wall. Through the passage of time, the spiders did their artwork over them.  The edges ragged. Lines squashed here and there . Though the hue of sepia had touched the house, the crimson touch in the picture was always there. That magic was always there.

Years later, when I came to Amsterdam for the first time and when the fall started, I began to see this magic.

Well I can't say, I began to see. I began to feel the magic. Colors of nature started to caress me. The texture of nature's own palette mesmerized me. I was hypnotized by the change. The transformation. 

From green, to light green and then to jade green..... From green to lemon colored-red to purple colored-red..... from green to saffron-orange.....

Some were so bright yellow. Some were tawny. Some were stuck between! It was beautiful. As if God just started to acrylic all over the nature, slowly. The transformation was slow.. But it was magical. It was melodious.

And I was just enjoying this . Capturing it on my own lens. My Retina. No Camera. No focus change. No Shutter speed.

Just me , myself and the charm!

And then it happened. Those colourful leaves began to fall down. All over. When the wind encircled, the leaves were just flying like old memories and reconciled to the ground. A few weeks later, the branches were getting noticeable. The sharp edges of the twigs were clearly poked out to the sky. Mother Earth was covered with different colored leaves. It looked like a giant canvas. But the trees were getting stripped. The Emptiness was obvious. 

It was kind of a metaphor. Some sub divisions in your life are like this. It is green, with different shades cuddling over with pleasant feeling ..and then,  without you realizing, it suddenly begins to fall over. You really want to hold onto it.. But then something, a flaw just kicks it and it makes tracks from its own line.

I don't remember how I felt exactly, when I saw this for the first time.  

Was I hurt or did I have a crystal of anguish or did I just think, let nature take its own path and you be the silent onlooker, as always!

Later, on a silent night, I took the pen and jotted down a few lines.... What if I am the maple leaf , amidst the other leaves , enjoying this fall , knowing that it will happen to me also soon..  

This one is dedicated to any leaf...Any maple... which has a heart.. and its own sensitivity....

... and I call it the Maple's Cry!

Maple's Cry

I don't know how long this would last
miles of smiles on one end
fire of cries on the other
Broken promises Endowed minutes
Shattered laughter Seattle dreams
Frozen gapes Crawling spirits
Changing colors Canine howls
Entranced Heaven Middle Earth
Curly Barks Twisted roots
Silver Streaks radiant cobble
Crimson Trail Silent night
I looked I sighed
I wish I could live forever
But I am just a maple ,
this is the fall, this is the end
I can't dream I can't hope
All I can do is enjoy the moment
and then chuckle and die!