The Leaf that Stayed and Stayed
Dr Sudeesh Bhasi
Winter has almost passed,
The air no longer bitter cold,
A thrush sings in joyous relief,
The early flowers are abloom.
Yet why do you stay, little leaf?
Spring came in a hurry, in all its glory,
Winter coats lay hung at home,
And parks were filled with shrieks of joy.
Yet when I trudged home every night,
He was still there, browner than ever,
Fragile and trembling in every gust,
But he was still there.
Oh yes, he was there.
Soon the summer sun beat down strong,
The heat so intense,
That my breath cooled the air around.
Dreams were dreamt,
Drenched in summer sweat.
Yet when the sun rose on another day,
He was still there, right outside.
No angry summer, no fiery sun,
Were a match for his stubborn will.
Soon even autumn slunk away, now old and
forgotten,
Rustling leaves covered the streets,
And every tree was bare again,
As far as one could see.
All, but one.
He still stood; withered, old and shrunken,
Yet, he still stood.
Winter’s first snowfall brought me out,
As soft, white flakes covered the land.
Below that tree, in the dead of night,
I gazed up in wondrous thought.
What were you in a life before,
That you should have a will so great?
What’s your purpose, little, old leaf?
Why do you stay and stay and stay?
Then in the stillness of dark,
He left his home,
No wind could tear him away,
No rain could beat him down.
Yet as I watched, standing right below,
With untold grace, he drifted into my palm.
As I held him in tender grief,
I realised right then, why he’d stayed.
I know not if it was my saddened mind;
In a voice so clear and yet so quiet,
He spoke in silence to my heart:
I am not a leaf.
I am your will that bows to none.
I am your Self that knows no defeat.
I am your strength and joy within,
That ebbs not, even at the hour of death.
Sudheesh graduated with a Bachelor
of Communication (Honours) in 2004.
He then went on to obtain a PhD in
sociology from Macquarie University.
He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at
Max Planck Institute for the Study of
Religious and Ethnic Diversity based
at University of Gottingen, Germany.
25
The tree is bare, but for you.
A new garment awaits within,
Soon her branches will dazzle green,
The young ones restless for their first spring,
Yet why do you persist, old little leaf?
What joy in this wrinkled life?
What happiness do you seek,
The previous spring hasn’t brought?
Autumn then arrived, and how!
Like a startling beauty entering a room,
Every eye watching her,
Every word frozen in awe.
Scarlet leaves, fiery and fierce,
Like flames, they danced on every tree.
Yet, he watched with a knowing air,
As if to say:
‘The star doth burn bright before it dies’