Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Beat Work (Poem)

Beat Work

A good cop never wants
to be taking

a code 7 at the scene,
needs his eye

for detail, a body
to put a finger on.

No house mouse,
a good cop wants to collar,

be a closer, stake out
truth from lie.

The right tactical
gear to ram

a bolted door, a warrant
to search and seize

keep a good cop in the bag,
not chasing lost time.

A good cop learns to know
a stalker's MO,

track a snitch's mate
and motive, probe

a person of interest
with a history

and time to give
up a statement.

Even when things go
sideways, a good cop

never goes down
not knowing where

the bright blue line's
been drawn.

© 2012, 2013 Maureen E. Doallas
____________________________

The TweetSpeakPoetry blog launched a series in October called "Poetry at Work". I decided to have some fun with the theme and to try to write about a job I'd never had, using, if possible, the occupation's lingo. "Beat Cop" was my first effort, and today, which is the first Poetry At Work Day, I dedicate the poem to police officers everywhere.

There are plenty of online dictionaries you can use to find terms peculiar to certain kinds of occupations or work but any creativity in using it is up to you. What job will you choose to celebrate today? Share a link to your own post the Comments section below.

8 comments:

Louise Gallagher said...

This is so clever
and well done!

Peggy Rosenthal said...

Fascinating, Maureen. It does give the feel of a "good cop" at work. I hope some good cops will read it!
My next-door neighbor is a fireman; maybe you'll try that work next. You know, firemen do a lot more than put out fires. They're trained in First Aid, for instance.

Wolfsrosebud said...

would be nice if we had more good cops

Kathleen said...

Oh, great use of the lingo!

Frank Watson said...

Liked your cop lingo--good, light flow to the poem!

Brian Miller said...

ha, i like...having worked in law enforcement i appreciate it all the more...it feels good to close...but i def enjoy the chase as well...

Patricia said...

Thanks Maureen, great use of this prompt and the lingo.

Ravenblack said...

I like the beat in this one. the straight talk, no-nonsense, is-as-is mood.