A sole leaf with life lays on the ground.
The tree sheds no tears. In silence it reviews its life, and the lives it has shared, as element or observer. A knowledgeable, vibrant,
creeping creature crawls beside the living leaf and arrogantly asks:
Asp: What happened...did you fall?
Leaf: The wind obligated me.
Asp: My dear, no wind could force me...
Leaf: Yes, I see, you crawl.
Asp: Crawl you say? I circulate! I circulate your sap when I feel the
earth in my entrails. I give oxygen, energy and make
conversions. I see you are not well-schooled?
The tree interested, bent a branch. It was hard of hearing and could not grasp the essence of the conversation.
Asp: Tell me foolish little green leaf. Do you know who I am?
Leaf: A reptile.
Asp: Nonsense! By the tail that once fed you and is now mere
decoration, I am the Qeen! The sovereign of active poison! The
giver of death! The guardia of sound!
Leaf: You! Important! You dont look it!
Asp: Listen, seet puff of chlorophyll! Look at me! I can stand strech
and with these little eyes I can see what hapening in the far -is off
mountains.
Leaf: You are so tiny. I dont believe you!
Asp: You say you dont believe me? What would you have me do?
What would you like to see?
Leaf: I want you to greet my aged and tired father. Then, climb to
the Highest branches and tell me what you see.
Asp: What a child you are! Very well, here I go. Climbing, climbing,
observing. Wow, what an old tree this is! It is so wrinkled it
reminds me of the teeth of my friend, the cobra.
Leaf: What can you see?
Asp: I see a lake. A mysterious nymph is keeping watch. She is
seated at the very entrance into the earth. The lake seems to be
sleeping but it is beginning to stir.
Leaf: Mysterious nymph? Is she very beautiful?
Asp: How shall I describe her? She is like Cleopatra, whom I
personally vanquished from this earth.
Leaf: You certainly are powerful...and I am beginnig to believe
you really can see.
Asp: I can see higher now and I percieve the aroma of a friendly
sea that sends to earth and its landscape the sweet perfume
from the depths of its eternal womb.
Leaf: Go higher, higher!
Asp: What a hurry you are in my little friend. Ah! Oh!
Leaf: What is it? Tell me, tell me what you see.
Asp: A ship.
Leaf: From the sea?
Asp: No!
Leaf: From the land?
Asp: No!
Leaf: From within the earth?
Asp: No! No! No! It is the ship which will take to space the essence
of the Gods who created it.
Leaf: Will we go, too?
Asp: You are dead. I am empty. I have not even enough poison to
frighten you, nor light to illuminate you, nor a kiss to leave you.
Only your aged, tired, old father will go.
Leaf: Papa?
Asp: Yes, he has always given freely. Never asking even a name,
arms open wide imploring for others. He will go.
The tree shiverred, shook its leaves, and disappeared forever from
the earth.
