Peace for the part-time PhD: A #clmooc #poetry port gift for @debbaff #HigherEd #PhdChat #WritingCommunity Just stick with it everyone!!!
Just get it done
The one
metric that
matters
The aesthetic patterns just
scattered chatter
of folks who
fake originality
in their totality of banality
in explaining what
common folk
already know
There is no part time scholar
just those who must holler
louder from the squalor
to please the shot callers
Worried about a screed
no on will read?
let me plant this seed of knowledge
soon your finally done with f'n
college
Writer's block isn't a disease
it is a lack of strategies
so when left with nothing but curses
and prayers, enough to fill ALL he churches
return to your research questions
lurch to your
purpose of inquiry
within thee
Your Why is your
third eye
lets you know to count stuff
or write fluff
The mythology
of your epistemology
need be told in a Homer like
epic
in system too septic
your life hectic
breath
then get reflective
on the your theoretical perspective
fill the gaps
with an ontological map
can knowledge be known
'through objective rules
or is truth the currency
of fools
find relevant literature
frame it as an
eminent fixer upper
holes in the roof
you seek to fill
with citation overkill
find canonical sources
cite count enormous
look for new voices
different choices
than the dead white guys
whose prestige flies
a flag privilege
instead vestiges
of new theory
in eerie corners
to move academy forward
in the methods
don't be original
stick to the principles
typical and minimal
unless engaged in the miracle
of qualitative research
then don't besmirch
the need to feed
us novel methods
just best guesses
based on your data
patterns emerge, themes
collapse
poor sap, just do a
regression model
In the next session
don't answer your question
at first, start with the burst
of data
don't get deflated,
succumb to
imposter syndrome
'thick skin
you
are the author
an expert akin to scholars in the field
make them yield
to your results
the pulse of thought
that can't be bought
chance of insignificance high
dissonance of data in supply
let it fly, just write
all data has her story
just find the allegory
Don't go rushing through
the discussion
anyone past the abstract
heads to the section without
fact
your speculation
as you move from results
to implications
even in past tense
explore the impact on practice
leave the low hanging fruit of limitations
for committee readers
keen on imitation
of scholars who care
how the part time PhD fares.
How did you start the paper
call back to the vapor
of your opening vignette
usually a statistic
of empending doom
Now go write that first chapter
you know the one you can read
and skip everything after
for that becomes a
real publication
a justification for the work
read by a handful of jerks
instead one
the dissertation is a game to be won
no fame when done
just a stiff drink
and time to think
