Have We Lost Agora’s of Clashing Reasons?

‘AGORA’ THE AURA OF REASON

Knowledge is invited to state its case,

Within the confines of an essay,

Postulating for and against,

Intellectual precision that balks no challenge,

For a tightly sealed argument,

Is the kernel that never germinates,

In the heat of hot debate rather than polite discourse,

For the Agora was a meeting place,

Not of merchants in a perfect market,

But a meeting place of minds,

Peddling the orators wit on waves of great passion,

Where the heart met the mind of reason,

To fuse in an authenticity of true love,

Expanding true knowledge,

Founded in the heart of democracy,

Forming the pearl of civilization,

From the Roman ruins of empire.

Today the circle is a square,

The students discuss theories,

Selecting the argument that wins,

The frame of reference fits the model,

Aiming to defuse argument or opposition,

Blocked by an array of indisputable facts,

For silence is read as tacit consent,

Yet many sit on the sidelines afraid to reveal ignorance,

Yet from ignorance greatest insights emerge,

And this becomes the content not the cover of Life magazine,

A fountain within a garden of contrasting colours,

Focusing on the bounty not the photo opportunity,

For attaining degrees of freedom,

Need not conform to prevailing norms,

The ceremony rewards the courage of exploration,

Catalyzing future pioneers of the new world,

Unearthing a new earth as an archeological dig,

That leaves no stone unturned,

No question uninvestigated,

For the philosophers stone is not a polished gem,

It is the rough diamond that has no value,

Cast aside in the current market,

In favour of credit.

The imagined community is now an electronic cyber-space,

Moral questions are unprofitable,

For to raise them takes the chess piece off the board,

And when the world is black and white,

And the rules are clear and concise,

Right and wrong parameter each game,

Strategy governs the modus operandi,

Moral reasoning is no longer the seasoning,

As the spice in life is replaced by fast foods,

Where there is no time to start a new game,

Where there is no win or lose,

And to question the play becomes the name of the game,

As truth has many faces,

But what do each reflect?

What is it that we see on reflection?

That diversity finds the balance of unity,

And unity is a colourful spectrum of light,

Weighing up fact from fiction,

Is the fountain of truth distilled from stories,

And this can only re-surface,

When one is interested in the reasons why?