Fereidun Shokatfard on Poets Cafe
The following interview of Fereidun Shokatfard by Lois P. Jones originally aired on KPFK Los Angeles (reproduced with permission).
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Biographical Information—Fereidun Shokatfard
Fereidun Shokatfard is a native of Iran. He is an artist, educator and accomplished businessman. His love for poetry of Rumi and Hafiz was inspired by the teachings of his maternal grandfather, who often gathered the children and played the tar – an ancient Persian string instrument and recited poems from Rumi and Hafiz. Fereidun’s love for nature and the outdoors led him to study agriculture. He graduated from Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany with a Ph.D. in Agro Economics. During his graduate studies, he also studied Art at the Pedagogic Institute in Giessen. Fereidun taught at Pahlavi University in Shiraz, Iran.
Dr. Shokatfard is an author of three books: Colors of Paradise, a collection of his art work and poetry; Colors of Love and Peace, a which brings together artwork of the students of 186th St. Elementary School in the LA Unified School District; and Colors of Joy and Happiness, an instructional art book. The Dalai Lama graciously wrote a foreword for the latter two books. These collections are part of the permanent patient library in local and national children’s hospitals.
In 2012 Fereidun created Heartful Children’s Foundation to help children with cancer through art. He agrees with the medical community that “children need more than medicine to get well” and conducts art shows to highlight the work of patients and share what is going on inside these facilities. Some former patients are familiar faces when he conducts workshops for children at his home.
__________
No more room
Somewhere at the edge of the emptiness
Layers of images coming to focus in my mind
Finding myself in the children’s cemetery
Graves of little angels as far as eyes could see
Fear no more heart, if you don’t hear the laughter
of Lily, Patrick and Paul
Where are Kylie, Jasmine and Laura
They all faded away
The killer, the cancer took them away one by one
The four year old Lily who looked like a porcelain doll
with her dark brown eyes, radiating life was a promise
If you overlooked her bald head and the tube in her nose
and just saw the pretty tiara on her head
and the fluffy petty coat bouncing when she came to the playroom,
with such an enthusiasm
You could hear her shouting in silence,
I will make it
she didn’t
O heart that led me to Laura’s bedside
to tell her that I brought the book of her art work
while my wife and her mom, who could not speak
a word of English were hugging and sobbing
I knew that the end was near
but I had to tell her what was in my heart
Te amo Laura, I love you
She opened her eyes slightly, smiled and softly replayed, me too
and went to a deep sleep
I need to take my mind off the cemetery
I have half an hour to rush to the hospital
to do art with those kids
They are waiting for me
And this time I am convinced
They all going to make it
Because we are going to love them a bit more
I told the Drs and nurses do your very best
I just passed the cemetery
There was a big sign in front of the gate that read
No more room