The leaf in my mind

On an uneventful day
as the vehicles rushed past,
a withered leaf landed on my lap,
in an almost end-of-life state,
like the sapped Jesus 
on mother Mary's lap.


I held the leaf on my four fingers,
looked at the translucent strands--
short and long, from head to tail,
embedded inside it,
sprawling on the green bed.


In one instance, it looked like 
a slender lizard arching 
towards its right limbs.
At another, it looked like
the bones of an entire fish.


I held the leaf 
and looked at it 
as if it were my baby, and
a tender feeling came over me.


I held the leaf 
and carressed it with my thumb
like feeling my beloved's hand
and I asked myself: Was I in love again?