"THE WAR THAT MATTERS..."

“THE ONLY WAR THAT MATTERS IS THE WAR AGAINST THE IMAGINATION/THE ONLY WAR THAT MATTERS IS THE WAR AGAINST THE IMAGINATION/ THE ONLY WAR THAT MATTERS IS THE WAR AGAINST THE IMAGINATION/ ALL OTHER WARS ARE SUBSUMED IN IT.” - from “Rant” by Diane di Prima, 1985

Poet Diane di Prima wrote “Rant” in 1985. It vibrates with urgency. to me it feels like a storm blowing away blockages to my understanding of our situation. Unending wars.. Climate Change…Extinctions ...Famine…the list is overwhelmingly long….

In addition, our Imagination is under assault. Fake news, bad news, hypnotic memes, mesmerizing influencers, and easy access to misinformation on the web disrupt our minds.

Imagination is our greatest power. It is the source of Empathy, Compassion, Creativity. It is fed by beauty, science, nature, art and music, and it is strengthened by learning patterns like circling seasons, like star patterns revolving in the sky, and like scientific, historical and medical facts also to memorize and to build on.

Algorithms are useful but algorithms cannot calculate the magical existence and inner firmament of a child. The child is his/her own power. “Every man/woman carries a firmament inside/” as Diane Di Prima says.

“Virtual Reality” is a sad facsimile of the Real world. We must not imprison our children in a Virtual “reality” from which there is no escape.

What is the Real World? The Real world is the world into which our children are born. At birth, their Imagination is ready to grow and learn. But Imagination is under assault.

How do we fight back? By bringing to children beauty, truth and kindness. By encouraging them to memorize poetry, music and languages so their memories are trained and they remember beautiful things. By leading them into the garden of this planet, into Nature which is the Real World, so they will know where they belong. Their Imagination is their inner firmament. “The War on the Imagination is the Only War that Matters. All other wars are subsumed in it.”

Link to a video of Diane di Prima reading “Rant” can be seen if you push the button below.