The Last Leaf

This is just so heart-wrenchingly beautiful!! Simple enough for a poetically challenged person like me. But the meanings and message are clear and ... it welled up my emotions.

Beautiful. Thank you.

Malik: I am glad that you were touched by this piece of literary effort on my part. It came from the heart, and I still remember the words of my late father about he friends being all gone. And I too recall the large number of people of my father`s generation, some very fine and unique personalities among them, who have now virtually all died and with so few of them now left. Thanks for the appreciation.

Nice.........

tauheed Ahmed

That was really elegant and moving.


The Place to which
such Leaves flutter off
knows neither summer nor winter.
Year round, there is
only Spring.

tauheed:

moving!

when we go we leave behind two things...memories and deeds...he must be a fine gentleman

rgds

t

Ansari, Romair: Thanks, glad you liked it.

Echoboom: Thanks for the appreciation. It is indeed true that ``sitaaroN say aagay jehaaN aur bhi haiN``. There is also a richness in our earthly existence that is given to us to enjoy, brief and humble though it is in light of the magnificence of the known cosmos (which in itself a mere sliver of creation.

Mr t: it is true, that we leave behind hardly a trace. memories last only as long as those carrying the memories are themselves around. all that is left of our existence, as you say, is whatever little we have been able to do in this life. my father, as with all those people who have departed, does indeed remain sorely missed by his near and dear ones despite the passage of time, so thanks for your kind words. also missed is that entire generation (the leaves of last summer, so to speak) of people.

Hey there Tauheed,

That was really nice. Beuatiful, yet easy for a poetry simpleton like myself. As long as you`re alive, a part of your father will always be alive and nourished. You carry half of his DNA code, some of his looks, some of his mannerisms. I`m sure you also reflect some of his teachings. Next time you look at yourself in the mirror, you`ll come to see that you`re keeping him alive in more ways than one.

But as for seeing the older generations go, I know what you mean. It is saddening.

Umer M.

tahmed:

Poetry is infectious. I showed your poem to a friend of mine. He gave me the following Urdu version:

Bahut hee buland, ikk shaakh-e-shajar peh
Thaa ikk barg-e-tanha larza`an saba sey
Kaha meray Waalid ney ikk alahsubah
Keh ahabab meray hein sab chal bassay
Woh ikk barg-e-tanha bhee rukhsat hua
Keh garma kee mohalat bahut mukhtsar haiy

Wishing you well,

Mohammad Gill

Good One,
Reminds me of Robert Frost`s

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound`s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Good One,
Reminds me of Robert Frost`s

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound`s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Very flowing style, and very moving. I hope your father sees this poem too, and smiles. Very well done.

Although my poetry credentials are shaky at best, I was wondering perhaps in the verse ``That last leaf....Is now one with the sky`` could have been more pointed and natural if you could have used ``earth`` or ``dust`` instead of ``sky``. The leaves fall to earth and become one with it, just like the human body.

Great job!!!

Tehmed32

Short, simple, meaningful, effective and moving.

Et Brutus. You too are into poetry.

nhk

NHK, huma mir, delhiwala, gill sahib and Umer Murtaza: Thanks friends for your warm and kind compliments, and am glad you enjoyed reading it.

NHK: I must admit to going sentimental at times. :-)

Huma: That is indeed something to wonder about isnt it - that even as we become one with the earth, we become part of the vastness of creation (a glimpse of which is provided by the vastness of the sky) at the same time. Also, I figured that ``sky`` ryhmes better that ``ground`` with ``enjoy``. :-)

Delhiwala: That is indeed a beautiful poem. btw, you may be interested in knowing that when Jawaharlal Nehru died, they found the last four lines (cut and paste below) written on a piece of paper in his office desk (I remember reading this in a newsmagazine at the time).
``The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep. ``

Gill Sahib: Glad you liked it. Thanks for the urdu version. So, now I can do a ``Mr. t`` (who provides the same thought in urdu and in english).

Umer: I should have known you were lurking around. :-) And appreciate your kind words about my father. It is indeed sad to see the passing of the generations. The incredibly brief time we - and everyone we know - has on earth becomes more and more obvious with each passing year as (to iterate what my father once said when recalling his long-dead friends - ``koi idhar gira, koi oodhar gira``). You mention the DNA which of course is at the center of advancements in human knowledge: the interesting thing is that (as many scientists involved in human genome believe is the case) we may be one of the last few generations before mankind finds its long sought ``fountain of youth`` (by finding a way to keep cells rejuvenating themselves indefinitely, growing new hearts and other body parts using stem cells or even ordinary cells). And that is a matter for another day. Thanks for writing.

Soul-food...very nice...

Re: # 14
Tahmed Saheb, Aap tou Chuppey Rustam nikley.

Kuch Punjabi which ve likhya karo.

PS: Each time I move around in NH mountains, I think of Frost and his poem. It is true that surroundings change minds.