Parting Gift

I went to a small wood At Nongmaijing hill riding bicycle Along a lonely dirt road. To see in solitude the beauty of nature And the trees, plants, bushes…. I saw long ago there. Although the hill not lush as before Becoming barren day by day Changing its appearance year after year. In the bush some laibakngou growing That medicinal plant grown in abundance Once In the hills today vanishing. And among the trees a seleima tree growing there Once grown everywhere in the plains Now a days not seen anywhere. I looked keenly at the seleima tree. Whether it only of its kind, Last of its specie growing there? There some birds happily chirping, Not in large numbers as long ago. Two bubuls here and there flying. I sat a while under the seleima tree Worried after a few years That small wood may not be seen there. Before leaving, from the seleima tree I plucked a tiny branch to preserve it As if a parting gift from that small wood. I kept it in my room and it dried. Yet in course of time it gone from my room And I had also forgotten it.