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Patrick S. De Walt, M.B.A., Ph.D.

~ Communal Conversations for the Promotion of Active Critical Engagement

Patrick S. De Walt, M.B.A., Ph.D.

Tag Archives: struggle

Bipolar Nation

18 Sunday Jun 2017

Posted by Patrick S. De Walt, MBA, PhD in Poetry

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Art, Community, Culture, Freewrite, healing, History, humanity, law, Performance, poetry, police state, Politics, self, social awareness, social critique, social justice, Social norms, society, Streams of consciousness, struggle

Civil unrest
Civil disobedience
Calls for subordination
Calls for enforcement of divisive ideologies of othering
Lives in turmoil as fear blankets them
ICE agents knocking on doors
Rounding up breathing, living, loving beings as if they were cattle being led to slaughter
Mothers and fathers separated from their children
Families in disarray as if they were being auctioned off for Southern plantations
For a simplified prescription for a complex circumstance
The hypocrisy of the time is one of major concern
Those who celebrate their ancestors’ arrival on such places as Ellis Island
Seem to not recognize that they too were from legacies of foreigners
Yet the romanticism ends quicker than it really began as this has been forgotten
We want them invisible to our lives unless they are speaking “our language”
Obeying our laws which we ourselves often abuse or ignore
Cooking our food
Washing our clothes
Making our beds when we travel
Manicuring our lawns
An underlying principle of the “American Way”
Exploitation of laborers in the form of free or significantly reduced labor
Voiceless
Faceless
Humanless
A nation is again putting those who are different on notice
Pray like us
Believe in our God
Believe in our Way
Concede your history and beliefs for a better way
A way made in “America”
Bipolar Nation
Should be our new anthem
For we have continually practiced a policy of forcing either or outcomes
Whether it was 1776
Or during the antebellum period
During the times of McCarthy and his hunt for Communists
We remain steadfast in being the obstacle in our own way
Bipolar nation
Either you have or you do not
That includes education, financial freedom, and health care
Yet we continue to look the other way until our hatred of others spills on our doorsteps
Our rhetoric of violence to not only those beyond our boundaries but those who reside within is disheartening
If you speak too sharply you may find yourself in the reach of the tentacles of the “Patriot Act”
More so like yelling “fire” in a crowded movie theatre
You are labeling yourself as if you wore a scarlet letter or Star of David
Bipolar nation
We are who we’ve always been yet most do not want to see
A nation whose fractured past prevents us from un-fracturing our present and future…

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In Hopes of Tomorrow

04 Sunday Jun 2017

Posted by Patrick S. De Walt, MBA, PhD in Poetry

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Art, communities, conflict, Culture, humanity, Motivation, Performance, Politics, Purpose, social awareness, social critique, social justice, society, Streams of consciousness, struggle, voice

Testimonials provide snapshots into the hearts and minds of the deliverer
Yet listeners translate those messages through tempered receptors
Constructing organic truths
Privileging their distinct sensibilities
Progressivism, liberalism, moderatism, or conservativism
Frame the lenses
socially accepted or recognized
Furthering the national pastime of divisiveness
Found morally
Religiously
Intellectually
Sexually
Economically
Racially
Throughout the landscape
Forefathers are perpetually propagated without further interrogation of their imperfections as founders of a more perfect union
A union of enslavement
Classism
Patriarchy
Reservational warfare
A more perfect union that applauds systematic hate and oppression
The birth of a nation of, for, and by the people
is idealistically my hope and wish for the future inhabitants
Yet, a harsh reality exists of
Wall building
Segregation
Exclusion
Gerrymandering
Victim-blaming
Selfishness
1% has become synonymous with what it has always been
A form of tyranny that ironically is fit for a king
Yet, this is a nation without monarchies
Without caste systems
Without true democracy
Incompleteness is an unfortunate present reality where
Love is not equally recognized
Cultures are not equally recognized
Languages are not equally recognized
Opportunities are not fully possible
In hopes of tomorrow
We must truly address the dispair of today…

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Broken Sparrow

29 Friday May 2015

Posted by Patrick S. De Walt, MBA, PhD in Poetry

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Art, expression, Freewrite, Identity, impromptu, nature, Performance, perseverance, poetry, spontaneous thoughts, Streams of consciousness, struggle, vulnerability

Challenged in nature
Weak
Perched on a ledge
Unable to fly
Damaged feathers
A wounded wing
Unable to balance

Perched on a ledge
Wishing to soar
Wishing to leave
This place
This ledge

Limited movement
Exposed to the environment
Predators lurking all around
Waiting for the opportune moment to
Conquer
Capture
Consume
Devour

Perched on a ledge
Unable to fly
Damaged feathers
A wounded wing
Unable to balance

Perched on a ledge
Broken Sparrow
Seeking to fly
To return home
To its nest
Weak
Unable to fly
Unable to soar

Here comes the rain
Saturating what remains
What is uninjured
Chirping between
The constant patter of raindrops
As if help were within its song

More unwanted attention is drawn
Recognizing the situation
That is ideal for most predators
Seeking an easy prize
Vulnerable
Yet determined
To fly
To soar
To make it home
To its nest

Perseverance is a characteristic of more than just humans
The broken sparrow can attest to this
Not relenting
Not giving in
Not giving up
Seeking and searching
For a way
For an answer
For survival

Life does not always readily
Place those answers obviously at our feet
Yet the broken sparrow continues to
Test
Challenge
Discover
Among the rain and would be predators
Salvation

Perched on a ledge
Unable to fly
Damaged feathers
A wounded wing
Unable to balance

Perched on a ledge
Wishing to soar
Wishing to leave
This place
This ledge

The broken sparrow can attest to this
Not relenting
Not giving in
Not giving up
Seeking and searching
For a way
For an answer
For survival…

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Random Thoughts of WE

23 Saturday Aug 2014

Posted by Patrick S. De Walt, MBA, PhD in Poetry

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Art, communities, conflict, Culture, deconstruct, expression, interpretive expression, Performance, poetry, Politics & Education, Popular Culture, Public Education, Purpose, self exploration, social awareness, social critique, Social Media, Social norms, society, spontaneous thoughts, Streams of consciousness, struggle, voice

Figments of our imaginations
offer us solace in times
when reality is not in line with our desires
Trepidation ensues
Leaving remnants of stains
Emotional residue
Our own carbon footprints
Positioned to trample
On…
The bludgeoning of chance
Yes, you’re familiar
And if not
You may need to return to the sands
Those that have scorched many who have dared to cross them
Symbolic
Like the Sphinx whose been offended by history
Yet, still finds a way to remain
Situated in nothingness is not what Jean-Paul Sartre would recommend
If you were reading philosophy
Existential Terrain is challenging to navigate
Not only for those who understand the symbolism
But also for those who are unconscious
Unconscious of what emanates from within or towards them
For foreign objects are treated worse here than along
the southern borders
No Minutemen here
And if they are
They lack documentation
How ironic is it that those who seek clearance
have no ability to grant it for themselves?
Sounds like the every day struggles of public school teachers who are held to the whims of uncertified critics
Or the misguided influence of currency from the ever present lobby
Lobbying to keep children from our classrooms because we need their papers
Unless their elders are mowing our lawns, picking our fruit, preparing our food  from beyond our view, or building/cleaning our fancy houses in the early morning or long nights
The beauty of modern capitalism
Where labor is cheap or damn near free
And systematic practices of misdirection remain a key tactic
Go Google it while you’re at it
According to analytics they already know what you’re thinking…
You’ve be trained and dare not to question it because then you’re not Patriotic
And you know what that act can suggest if you’re not careful?
Guantanamo is not as distant as one may think
Just like on certain sides of the tracks when the sun goes down
And you will clearly see
Or will you?
It depends.
On what channel you’re turned to
ESPN won’t carry this unless you purchase the right subscription
Walter ain’t releasing people these days
They work them hours so that when you visit you’re entertained
Yep, I was there too.
And thoroughly enjoyed myself
Can’t be claiming to be Che or El-Hajj
Too many flaws in my game
Oops, I don’t play those
Unless it’s the game of life that I have to win
Because if I lose
All of those who lost their lives or sacrificed their freedoms
will have lost even more on their incalculable investment
Not in me
But in the future that encases me
Encases you
Encases the little ones that we seek to have
Seek to protect
Seek to love
The little ones who are still residing inside of
Each of us
So protect your little ones
Therefore you’re protecting yourself
The Big Bad Wolf loves more than Little Red Riding Hood
Or was that a Little Red Corvette?
Of course not, that is just a reference to date myself
My experience in the game
Ooops, I don’t play those
Yet, everyone around me does
Matrices are around me as if I were Ne-Yo
I didn’t misspell it, I did that on purpose
Since memories are short I tried to be current
Doesn’t have to be the truth
It just has to be something that you wish to believe
Like on Gentlemen Fox
With his Friends
This is what America does
so therefore that includes Ameri-cans
Yet most Ameris-can’t
Like read above 3rd grade level or read text that isn’t bullet pointed.
Yep, we’re talking comprehension
When did that happen?
Did you notice?
Or did you care?
Never mind, it ain’t that important
All I really need is 140 characters or some emoticons and I’m good
But am I really?
I don’t know but if I turn to the right channel I don’t have to think about it
You know that I could be making all of this up, but would you go research it to find out?
Ooops, that means you’re back to Google.
Hopefully Google Scholar at least.
Just don’t pay too much attention to my profile
I didn’t follow the rules
I like long sentences
Complex if possible
Don’t get mad if you find a few split infinitives in the mix
Yet, I wish it was an Infiniti G
I’ll let you pick the model as long as it’s a convertible and hopefully black
I grew up loving Knight Rider
But not the new KITT
Nor Kit Kat
Don’t need no breaks but if you did
Make sure it included Nell
You know her last name?
If not, go and…
That blank was filled before I even finished typing the line
How easy certain things are when you try
(Ooops, I did it again like Britney)…
Or is it when you are conditioned?
Air Conditioned like in Texas around August.
Yep, I’m being reminded of that right about now
I have mine on 76
And no, it didn’t declare me anything
There weren’t a whole bunch of men to sign it in protest
Ooops, don’t use that word too loudly
Especially in that place with an M-O.
But then again, be careful in N-Y or D-C or F-L-O-R-I-D-A
LeBron wasn’t the only one who left
I did too.
Yet, not soon enough
I got the scars to prove it
But I’m relearning a few old letters like U-G-K
Some readers got that because you like them underground kings
“and I keep yelling it but ya’ll don’t hear me though”
Like it was “Who ya rootin’ for?”
Have fun with that
Until Homecoming…

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Contact Email

dewalt@patricksdewaltmbaphd.com

Recent Posts

  • In Search of Leadership April 6, 2020
  • She Calls April 24, 2018
  • She’s Crying September 3, 2017
  • Letting Go To Let Live June 26, 2017
  • Bipolar Nation June 18, 2017
  • The Casual Eye June 11, 2017
  • In Hopes of Tomorrow June 4, 2017
  • To Capture a Heartbeat June 4, 2017
  • Transient Echo June 4, 2017
  • The Reason June 2, 2017
  • Thoughts in Motion February 18, 2017
  • Assail February 18, 2017
  • Timorous Island January 29, 2017
  • From Beyond the Prism October 16, 2016
  • Trajectory June 19, 2016

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