The memory of a fragrance...

How do you describe a smell
Hidden in a twenty year old memory?

You think of tinkling anklets on small feet
running through dark warm wooden corridors
on a cool red oxide floor

Running in answer to the call for tea
and reaching to find sweet pleasure
in little triangular dumplings
enclosed in this leaf you threw aside without a thought

But not before getting a strong whiff
of this elusive aroma

This memory that rested on a delicate thread
now lays heavy on your palm too
Spicy and deep ,It can wake you up from sleep
It cannot be mistaken for any other
This smell of the Vazhana leaf.