Mighty have fallen...

So this is the dead version of the once magnificent Bird of Paradise flower, or strelitzia.  Deceased, fallen off the perch, expired, passed away, gone to the other side - this is very much an ex-flower.
No more flamingo pinks, or sea-green pod, or vivid orange rabbit-ear leaves, or deep purple tongue with a tiny splash of yellow.
In their place, drab brown everything, with not the slightest vestige of its former glory. So unfair, so cruel, and so difficult to blandly ascribe to nature's life cycle. If so, then the reasonable person would probably opine  that this phase of the cycle pretty much sucks.
Sure the next first phase will see that lovely smooth stem start to emerge from the bottom of the plant, and when it's about 90 cms tall, the tip will split open to reveal all those nascent coloured parts, waiting to slowly unfold.
Meantime, it still looks like a completely useless dung-coloured shambles.