A Reflective Review of Shrestha Chakraborty’s poem “The Last Leaf”.

Death, a cluster of just simple five letters, encapsulates in itself the cessation of life of all living entities. But do people ever accept the death of someone or something in a positive manner? Of course, the response will be negative. But the fact is that without decay none of us would exist. And that is why when someone or something dies they become natural fertilizers for plants. If we look at our garden where dead leaves are brushed away in a heap, a hopeless thought arises in our mind as to what to do with those dead leaves. Dead leaves mean the end of life. But the fact is that those leaves can be used as natural fertilizers for the soil. So, everything has a purpose and this very thought of optimism amid the apparent pessimism is projected in a metaphorical way in the poem "The Last Leaf" by Shrestha Chakraborty which has been published in the anthology titled "Firth- A Consortium of Indian Poets". 

The poem shows a conversation between a little hungry worm and its mother. The little worm asks its mother what is the purpose of a leaf which is about to fall— "Is this how they die, Mom? Said the little hungry worm…Does it have no purpose in life? Other / Than birth and death!" And the mother replies that everything though little and transient has a noble purpose to perform— "It has. A noble in fact! the decrepit old mother replied." The leaf here is compared to a Martyr— "Martyrs are not always born humans my little innocent child!". Just like how a Martyr sacrifices his life for a great purpose, a leaf also falls down from a tree "like a puppet on Time's sudden call" and through its fall it satiates the hunger of worms and other invertebrates, and at the same time makes a space for the new leaves to grow— "And being a feast for millions as hungry as we, …To make room for a new beginning;". This teaches us that every end is a new beginning. 

The poem convincingly presents that everything be it a gigantic statue or a small leaf has a noble purpose to perform. The poem primarily revolves around the thought of purposelessness pervading the perception of the little worm. Here the poet gives voice to the worm and also its mother which holds the concept of anthropomorphism where the non-human entities are given human attributes in a bid to form a connection between humans and nature. Another strand goes like this that maybe the worm is given human voice to show human nature which shares the worldview of anthropocentrism or humanocentrism (human supremacy or human exceptionalism) where humankind is seen as separate from nature and superior to it, and other entities such as animals, plants, mineral, etc are deemed as resources for humans to use. There sounds not a whit of aggrandisement in the famous quote by Rachel Carson— "In nature nothing exists alone." That means that we are all connected to each other in a symbiotic relationship which further brings out the postmodern sensibilities throughout the poem. For example, the movement of the earthworm makes the soil airy, porous, and fertile which further facilitates cultivation. God is the ultimate reality and He has made each and everything with distinct purposes to be served all as offerings to Him. God loves every living being and that is why He makes the earth the mother of all things, and punishes anyone who willfully destroys even the littlest life on it for no reason. And here the famous line by William Blake appears relevant— "Everything that lives , lives not alone, nor for itself."