The Dandelion In Winter

[arifah]

One day Farlan wrote a poem called "The Dandelion in Winter" and he made a little wooden sculpture with the poem inscribed on the back to go along with it. This little wooden sculpture, also called "The Dandelion in Winter", was taken to be sold at a Folk Art Fair in Atlanta, Georgia, where it was bought by a 12 year old boy called Sam.

Sam wanted to know what the poem meant, and Farlan wrote him a beautiful letter telling him all about it. You can see the sculpture, the poem and Farlan letter below...

The Dandelion in Winter

Old and grey greened as an elephant

tree'd trunks bursting out as if into mayblossoms

only forgotten where the bombs had fallen

broken into his heart. stormed and formed

his stammering first steps into english

Special to my silence, all my petals gone

Dandelion loves the winter

loves the winter song

In the moonlight ran little brother

in his nightengown

be as crazy as you want me to be

he cried to the moon

Be out from these barred windows soon

then laughing like a bat he fell into sleep

Bidden to bide his time he bided

and rowed down the river in his oak tree boat

just like in a story book

only the sky been blue and clear did not move from one infinity to another

And in the thin air your voice grows sturdy and thick

you smoke cigarettes and wonder why the candle flame disappears in the sun

And you wonder at the compassion of him

who sent you this cool breeze

sent you the winter snow

Ah you say I do love the snow

Strange thinks your friends..

A dandelion should blaze like the sun

and die in an explosion of wishes

But he who sent the cool breeze

knows better how to love you

Ahmeen....Ahmeen..say all his children

Dear Sam,

The Poem is about myself coming into the world and growing into a man.

All creative acts begin with a feeling, an emotion..These feelings or emotions have in them a desire to take on an outward form and to be in the world. And so the outward form might be a painting or a statue or a song or poem..Or even a new humane being!

The first verse is a discription of the bombsite where I played as a little boy with all the other kids from nearby..

"Old and grey greened as an elephant

tree'd trunks bursting out as if into mayblossoms

only forgotten where the bombs had fallen"

I was born in 1942 three years before the world war two ended.By the time I was old enough to play on the bombsite..grass and bramble had over grown all the rubble ..Their was a tree on the bombsite that had been struck by lightening it was an oak tree. It was split right down it's trunk with a violent scorch mark. all the bark and leaves were gone.It was stark white and dead. As a little boy I felt very close to this dead old tree and loved it..In the poem I combined the memory of that lightening struck tree..with a tree we had in our back garden..It was a mayblossom tree and it burst out into brilliant pink flowers every year around my birthdayMay 13th..In my feelings the two trees are together..One is I supose new life coming into existence every year and the other is the end of life..

forgotten where the bombs had fallen means..that new life grows and has no regard for what went before..

The next verse:-

"broken into his heart.stormed and formed

his stammering first steps into english"

This is me looking back as a grown man on myself as a child..Remembering how I felt then about where I found myself and the emotions that were in me.

The next verse is somewhat mystical! :- " Special to my silence, all my petals gone...DandieIion loves the winter..loves the winter song....I felt that I had lived before and in that life before I had been a King..But this was a bit of a secrete I kept to myself..In this verse I am comparing myself to a dandielion..without its blazing yellow petals..A king now without his kingdom..Without been recognized as a king..The winter song..is the new life I had..as a little boy..No longer a king just an ordinary boy..This new life I loved..

The next verse:-

"In the moonlight ran little brother

in his nightengown..be as crazy as you want me to be..he cried to the moon..Be out from these barred windows soon..then laughing like a bat he fell into sleep"

This is a memory of me in my attic bedroom looking out from my window very happy thinking of another day playing on the bombsite..Me a little brother to the moon.. then falling to sleep.

The next two verse move me on to become a young man..My life been like a story only it was real not a story in a book.I become a teenager..My voice grows deeper I smoke cigarettes and ask questions about myself and my life..Wonder why my life is so difficult..Wonder why I love the difficulties..even enjoy them..

"Bidden to bide his time he bided

and rowed down the river in his oak tree boat

just like in a story book..only the sky been blue and clear did not move from one infinity to another.

And in the thin air your voice grows sturdy and thick

you smoke cigarettes and wonder why the candle flame disapears in the sun."

The last few verses are about recognising God'd grace in giving one a quite hard life..People who know me say why aren't you famous.. rich..Why aren't you a king? But I say ..Oh no! I love the winter..I love been just an ordinary man having sometimes quite a hard life..Because I recognise God the great creator know what is best for me...Knows how best to love me..

The poem ends like a muslim prayer..Ahmeen..Ahmeen..Say all his children..

Ahmeen means..As God wills! It is an acceptance of whatever life brings you,,

"and you wonder at the compassion of him

who sent you this cool breeze

sent you the winter snow

Ah you say I do love the snow

Strange thinks your friends..

A dandielion should blaze like the sun

and die in an explosion of wishes

But he who sent the cool breeze

knows better how to love you

Ahmeen..Ahmeen..say all his children..

So this is a very long winded explanation of the poem..But it could have been longer..I think though I've said enough for a bright young man to be able to get the meanings I haven't talked about..

[Nightwolf]

Beautiful, I'm really glad for the explanation, it helps get all the nuances of the wonderful piece, thanks for sharing it

[Steve]

It's a lovely poem, enhanced by the explanation. I wish I could have met and had a chat or two with Farlan!

[arifah]

Hello John,

I thought I might hear from you on this one, I thought you might like it. I'm glad you did.

Farlan left a lot of work behind, and while I never forgot "The Dandelion in Winter" I hadn't read it since before Farlan passed away. I actually got quite upset reading the poem and his letter to Sam. I got that hit of something almost painfully beautiful that was within Farlan that made him so special to be with.

The path Farlan chose was indeed a difficult one, and they weren't all ordinary difficulties either. But what was unique was the way Farlan was open to it all, the way he embraced the pain and let it inform him and change him. "I stare back at the sun" he said in one of his songs. He got burned, but he also got something else too, like a Native American on his Vision Quest, he got something special that he could pass on to other people in his songs...

Arifah

[arifah]

Hello Steve,

I think you and Farlan would have got along really well. He would have enjoyed your wit, and you would have enjoyed his. His response to a heavy breather on the phone once "You'll have to breath up a bit, I can't hear you" was both funny and effective.

I think Farlans explanation of "The Dandelion in Winter" offers a good insight into understanding his songs. It's hard to talk about the mystical and spiritual side of life using ordinary language, and Farlan's songs are a little bit like riddles and this explanation is like the key .

Of course no explanation is ever going to be complete. and everyone will see and feel something different. Sometimes it's best not to try to understand at all, but just let the feeling carry you along.

Farlan says it all so much better himself in this little extract from "The WayWard Way". He's talking about box decorating here, but it applies just as well to the writers and singers of beautiful songs.

------------------------------------------

We all live between a past we remember as if it were a dream, and a future, that is unknown and where in we do project our hopes,and sometimes our fears to! And who we are really? Only God knows that.

And so we do not want our paintings to be like science or woodwork. We want them to be like we are, all of us, enigmas, mysteries, only ever partially understood. It's like a puzzle, a cross-word say, very engrossing until you solve it, but then having solved it, we no longer have any interest in it. A person like that, a solved puzzle would bore us. A painting like that would die as we looked at it. So dear reader, remember the Mona Lisa's smile, and do not be sad that you cannot fathom it, if you did the magic would die, it would be for you, like a card trick explained, a disappointment. We live in this mystery we call life, we are a mystery and a wonder to ourselves, and quite frankly most of us prefer it that way, and will pay good money to have our sense of wonder aroused, but not satisfied..

So dear reader, there's a few things for you to consider when painting your panels and lids, don't be a scientist, be a magician!

[Steve]

Wise and insightful words indeed!

[beautifuldisaster]

It seems really beautiful and meaningful to me.

[arifah]

Thank you, beautifuldisaster, I'm very pleased that you liked "The dandelion in Winter".

Arifah

[Nightwolf]

Hello John,

I thought I might hear from you on this one, I thought you might like it. I'm glad you did.

Arifah

Thank you

[Da Prophecy]

Arifah, well-written piece again. I love images and great use of words (mainly because I want to be really good at this someday) and this has both of them. It seems that a lot has already been said by others but that is the main thing that stuck with me. Oh yeah, great title as well.