The Mighty Dandelion -- or, A Study in Hypocrisy | Teen Ink

The Mighty Dandelion -- or, A Study in Hypocrisy

June 10, 2011
By TheWordShaker SILVER, San Jose, California
TheWordShaker SILVER, San Jose, California
5 articles 0 photos 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Franz thinks of everything and nothing. He wonders if the world is becoming a dream or a dream is becoming the world."


The mighty dandelion
Standing proud
All green and white and gold
Swaying in the breeze.

Then, the mighty weed whacker
In spinning glory
All shiny red paint
Mowing down everything
In its path.

A tense moment
Time in suspension
As the cords touch the stem,
And then bite into it with a whir.

And the dandelion falls
Its last gift to the world,
White puffs of seed flying
Into the air and
Dispersing.

And so it goes.

Dandelions
Falling
Before a weed whacker
Like wheat before a scythe

Or, perhaps,
Plucked up
Root and all
By a child wearing
Gloves
Three sizes too big.

And yet –

What did the dandelion ever do
For such a fate?

The only aims of a plant –
To live.
To grow.
To spread its seed.

And humans

We live, do we not?
We grow, yes?
We populate the earth
Almost to its capacity, correct?

And we pollute the land,
The sea, the sky
Outer space, even
With our refuse,
Our failed attempts
That we can't face ourselves
And so toss away from us
To avoid being reminded
That we
Are
Not
Perfect.

Are we so much better
Than the mighty dandelion,
After all?


The author's comments:
I wrote this after I had to weed the garden, and we had quite a lot of dandelions... obviously I was in favor of just letting them be. And to distract myself I started figuring out a poem in my head. Of course it started out completely different, but it sort of evolved.

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This article has 6 comments.


on Apr. 3 2013 at 7:57 pm
TheWordShaker SILVER, San Jose, California
5 articles 0 photos 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Franz thinks of everything and nothing. He wonders if the world is becoming a dream or a dream is becoming the world."

Thanks for reading! :)

on Apr. 3 2013 at 7:57 pm
TheWordShaker SILVER, San Jose, California
5 articles 0 photos 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Franz thinks of everything and nothing. He wonders if the world is becoming a dream or a dream is becoming the world."

Thank you for reading! :)

Skyset GOLD said...
on Mar. 31 2013 at 8:21 pm
Skyset GOLD, Goddard, Kansas
13 articles 0 photos 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Use what talents you possess. The Woods would be very quiet if no birds sang there except those that sang best."
--Henry Van Dyke

Great Message!

EYSYL SILVER said...
on Mar. 11 2013 at 2:02 pm
EYSYL SILVER, Jackson Heights, New York
5 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
“Mother of otherness,
Eat me.”

This is grand

on Jul. 2 2011 at 7:59 pm
that was really touching. it made me feel really bad for all we do to that poor, innocent plant!!! and the world... to me, this poem was really humbling :)

Minegirl said...
on Jul. 2 2011 at 12:19 pm
Wow! That was a great poem, I really liked the message it had!