The Last Cowboy
By Brenda Seymore- Riley (AKA Smthgwked6 & Cowgrl6666@AOL.Com)
This poem is dedicated with love and respect to themen and women of Law Enforcement~ I am grateful for what you do, and this is my way of saying thank you. Be Safe~ The world is a better place because you're in it~ I only wish I could give you more for the sacrifices you make on my behalf~ Brenda
Alone he patrols the night, while the world is asleep
It's safety he is sworn to keep
He made a promise to protect and
Even though danger is around every curve
Hated and feared by the predators he stalks
Disliked and mistrusted for the job he's been taught
Some jeer at him and call him a "Pig"
as he guards the mean streets in his Black and White rig
He grits his teeth and turns the other cheek
You can't be a Cop. and let them see you are weak
Everyone he meets tells him their lies
As he looks at them with knowing eyes
There isn't much he hasn't seen
He knows nothing is ever as it seems
He listens and tries to understand
the pain inflicted by man's inhumanity to man
He is the "Last Cowboy" Standing proud, standing true
On his Black and White Pony An Angel in Blue
The one in the white hat
No matter where he is
no one really knows where he's at
Hard to love, harder to hold
as warm and as passionate, as he is cold
Courage and determination
against insanity and damnation.
He gives his job his best,
his promises he keeps
He never rests,
for crime never sleeps
He pulls into an all night diner
Dinner is usually late,
he's dead on his feet
He walks in so weary to get something to eat
But before he had a chance to take and even breath
A call comes and he must go,
as the city is visited by death
Gang violence, drive- bys~ robberies and rape
Women beaten, dead babies in trash cans gagged with tape
> Children killing children, 12 years olds that are armed
Every call a call of alarm
Psychos, Killers, Car thieves, and Pushers
drug dealers, addicts, a young girl the victim of torture
Every night is the same, of this he is sure
Sometimes it is more than even he can endure
Drunk drivers, victims trapped in burning, twisted steel
this is a Cop's life,
this is what's real
As screams of pain cry out for help,
he risks his life,
You say he doesn't feel?
Do you think this is right?
A teenage boy aims and fires,
to kill a Cop is the fame he aspires
The Cop fires back, not knowing who is at the other end
of the violence he's found What happens to a Cops heart,
when he has to put a child in the ground?
How does he face it? When no one else can?
No one sees the pain in his eyes
Life for him is no longer a surprise
The things that he sees each day are no longer a shock
To survive he has had to harden his heart to a rock
Or he couldn't face and fight what the rest of us fear
His eyes reflect a world's cruelty and pain, like a mirror
How do we put a price on the sacrifices he makes?
Who holds a Cop at night when he's alone and he shakes?
With the agony that he's seen, he is washed in it's blood
as his dreams are lost in a merciless flood
of the evil that men and women do
with only this Cop between it and you
He stands alone in the violence and then
sometimes he forgets where it all began
His wife has left him,
his kids are ashamed of the things people call a Cop
and for the things that he's blamed
Like it or not, he is married to the street
a shepherd that protects the sheep
He longs for a peaceful home for his heart
and now he's lost her, as they grew apart
Does anyone know cost to the soul of a Cop?
Of the things he has lost, for the things he has fought?
Does anyone care that he is a target for death?
That his courage never fails him, even as he draws his last breath?
Does anyone know the nightmares he dreams?
Who responds to a Cop when we wakes up and screams?
Who holds him and protects him and kisses him goodnight?
Does anyone care if he is all right?
Does anyone understand that if a choice had to be made
That his family, friends is the cost that he paid?
So when you see a black and white as it drives by
What would it hurt to smile and wave Hi?
To show him that you know what he gives everyday
and that you know and appreciate the price that he pays
If you get caught speeding and he stops you
Don't say "why are you harassing the one who pays your wage?"
Or you will feel his frustration and rage
Isn't he doing what your taxes pay him to do?
Remember the law he serves is also for you~
If you break the law, however small
No matter who you are, a crime is a crime after all~
He is sworn to uphold it and he doesn't have pets
For if he's behind you, you deserve what you get
It won't matter what color your skin
In the eyes of the law, a sin is a sin
The excuses you make to justify your wrong
Will be drowned out in his siren's song
He is fierce, he is strong, his heart is brave
And he will be a Cop until he goes to his grave
Honor him and the sacrifices he gives
For the quality of life you live is because of him