Beyond the Badge
In Honor of America's Peace Officers
The night is still and dark
As muffled sounds grow louder through the park,
Running from cops, two teenagers just seek a thrill
When shots ring out. Now blood runs chill.

"Let's get out of here! You just shot a cop!"
Terrorized words that cause another heart to stop.
For as fleeing footsteps begin to fade,
One policeman kneels to offer aid

To his partner . . . brother . . . friend,
It is too late. The noble life has ended.
O Citizen, you see it as a game.
But beyond the badge, the man has a name.

Beyond the badge and uniform there is the life
Of one who is supported by children and by wife.
By parents and siblings, who will suffer too
For any harm you do to the man beyond the badge.

O Citizen, if you harm him,
So many hearts will break.
Countless are the tears that fall
In sorrow for his sake.

O Citizen, if you kill him,
So many lives will end . . .
Those of his wife and children
His partners, parents, friends.

So the next time, look beyond the badge
If you are told to stop.
See that it is not just a uniform,
But a man who is the cop.

By Edye Brumett
September 1998