James Moore Poet Narrative

Notes About The Poem

DEI

(“Something From Nothing”, 2024, original encaustic)

Diversity, equity and inclusion
Used to mean something different
When I was a kid of six
On the playground green. 

There amid the other first graders
All together in our uniforms
We didn’t care how we looked,
And what the teachers cared to instill
Was a respect for our individuality 
While maintaining a sense of inclusion in the group.

That was the order of things
Individuals each and all, 
Equal only as parts of a whole
Without any sense of a need to conform
To being just like everyone else.

The group would of course pass
As we passed on up the grades
And made our way through life,
But the individual would remain
No matter what the context;
Alone, together, or just a part.

The DEI of those days didn’t really matter
Beyond being a playground ideal,
A way to set the stage
For all that would follow
And unfold in its own way,
Time and place.

Now DEI has become a post-modern religion
Something we must all embrace
Lest we slip out of favor 
To the dark side,
And we all know where such heresy got us
The last time it was so
And the Inquisitors came to call.

I still get hot around the collar when I think of it…

(6/1/26)

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