Uniforms

 

“The Wall of Daydreaming and Man’s Inhumanity to Man” – Chicago Street Art

 

irrational valor

a selflessness

sworn of an oath

to protect and defend

turn aside mortal peril

walk into the fire

stand into the bullets

take illness in hand

a state less of the

mind than the heart

it’s a calling

the voice of an

impulse to serve

a devotion to duty

a knowledge that

one’s fellow man

needs protection

no threat

the more grave

than he is to himself

First Responders

Photo from 911blogger.com

once more unto the breach
headlong into the cruel
gnashing teeth of calamity
knowing the intimate feel of real fear
that no coward
has ever once touched
armed with steely resolve
to protect and defend
they bend back the instinct
for self-preservation
re-aiming it outward
reshaping it into the noblest of tools
for the rescue of victims
as peril surrounds them
with bullets or flames
with temblors or floods
they give succor to innocents
saving with even but one hapless soul
all the essence
of fellow humanity

For J.R.

Livingston NJ
Police Officer Badge

 

(My first attempt at the tanka form)

 

my son wears the badge

lives the honor of service

no less than the day

he raced off to ground zero

or sailed into Desert Storm