A Chapter In The Life Of Imagination Poem by Paul Hartal

Imagination was born on a Friday,
although one might argue
that she arrived in the world
even before Friday itself was born.

After graduating in journalism,
Imagination worked as an editor of a newspaper.
One day, while on vacation, she met an old man
who introduced himself to her simply as ‘Plato'.

‘Plato? ', she said.

‘Yes, Plato.'

She extended her hand. ‘I'm Imagination.'

‘Imagination? '

‘Yes, Imagination.'

‘Well, I have a problem with you', said Plato.

‘With me? ' said Imagination in a surprised voice.
'What problem? '

‘An extremely serious problem', said Plato,
‘because the flight of your fancy, the fertility
of your soaring fantasy is nothing but a big lie.
Verily, it is hard to tell the difference
between your bold drive of creativity and
the hallucinative visions of the mad and lunatic.
My Dear Lady, you are dangerous.
And those who rely on you too much,
like poets and artists, are dangerous people as well,
because they can easily influence and corrupt
the unfledged minds, the tender souls of the young
and the gullible with immoral ideas.Therefore you
and your party, along with the community of poets
and artists, should be banned from public forums.'

Imagination listened patiently
to Plato's impassioned rant.
‘Of course, I disagree with you', said she.
‘First of all, you throw out the baby
with the bathwater. Furthermore, bear in mind
Aristotle's opinion that in every genius
a degree of insanity must reside.
Yet even such a rational thrust as science needs
intuition, insight and creativity. As a matter of fact,
science cannot progress without the qualities
of Imagination. So, in many ways the cracked
should be blessed because they let in the light.
And permit me to add that Einstein certainly
would disagree with you, too.'

‘Einstein? ' Plato looked perplexed.
‘Who in the world is Einstein? '

‘Albert Einstein is the greatest scientist
of the 20th century', said Imagination.

‘And how is he relevant to our discussion? ' asked Plato.

‘Well, Einstein said that imagination is more important
than knowledge, because knowledge is limited,
whereas Imagination encircles the world. ‘