Bianca Pena
ENG 101  
 Extra Credit *LaGuardia* 

  

  Behind 

A leaf is a leaf and is alone

without a stem to hold its own

and safe itself from the coming storm-

weak against the wind's reform.

A leaf is a leaf and is an exile

wishing to be blown back into the soil.

meanwhile,

a part of feet and then a hand

seemingly from a distant land

picks the leaf up (it wriggles to resist the wind and

the stranger).

he pins it in his book as a maker

of place... place  - a concept lost in time -

lost to his soul encased in rime

by the winter winds of that endless storm.

but in the solace of a new place

the two, who were one in their fate,

(the leaf- robed of all mirth,

the wanderer- denied rebirth)

came to terms.

and all their rumination in this alien nation

led to their biggest find

(thought it brought them no benefit)

the cruelest paradox in the world of mankind:

are the ones who are left

Behind.

    Ira M. Montano   (pp 37)

      While I was going through the pages of the catalog, I saw this tittle and it caught my attention immediately. I don't know why but I felt like I needed to read this poem. When I started to read it, I felt disappointed. I thought whoever wrote this paper would talk about something else, something more sentimental. I mean don't get me wrong it's a great poem but for me, since that person chose the word Behind as a tittle I  was expecting something different. However, I decided to pay closed attention to the poem and I found in it the significant that I was looking for. This poem represents, your life through the live. It might seems that you have no one to hold on when the storm is coming but you can still navigate through it by your own. As the writer said, "A leaf is a leaf and is alone"
and can do it by its own so why can't you? A leaf is a simple and fragile thing that can go again the storm so whenever you feel like there is no way to go, think about this and go on!