“Predatory PhD supervisors”

In shadowed halls where columns gleam,  
And learning’s promise weaves its dream,  
There walks a figure, mild of face,  
But cloaked in power's strange embrace.  

Their voice a whisper, soft but sure,  
They lure the hopeful to endure  
Long hours bent o’er books and keys,  
With praise as bait and favours teased.  

For those who chase the gilded prize  
The rules can shift, the truth disguised—  
A paper signed, a contract blurred,  
Ambitions crushed with every word.  

The guidance comes with silent strings,  
The subtle slide of hidden things:  
A task that grows beyond the scope,  
A heavy hand that stifles hope.  

Yet in the dark another seed:  
Bright voices rising from the need—  
For kindness at the mentor’s door,  
For justice in the scholar’s lore.  

So let us call these shapes to light  
And champion what’s fair and right:  
That every mind may rise and see  
The true pursuit of PhD.

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