Behind the Shield: We Need Police

In days or yore, shields proclaimed
A group or family identity and
The allegiances of those who held them.
Those were tough times
And those were tough people.
Medieval times and
Medieval frames of mind.
They provided some protection
By way of quick deflection
Of pointed objects thrown
Or fired at
The man behind it.
Woven chain mail cloth of iron
Helped a tad, too -
But death often came quickly
In a torrent of crimson
And innards.
Tough times and
Tough men.

Knights in blue and beige
Patrol our streets,
Shields pinned to their shirts
Declaring their department
And rank.
These shields don't deflect jacketed
9mm lead rounds
And the chain mail
Has been upgraded
To heavy vests -
Which sometimes work
And sometimes don't.
Modern times and
Modern frames of mind.
Tough times and
Brave people.

Sometimes they succeed
And sometimes they don't -
Sometimes justice will win out and
Sometimes it won't.
Time and time again
When something's really rough
They have trouble getting
Where they're needed
By someone who needs them
Quickly enough.

Each one is not perfect
And some can be fakes
Pretending to be righteous and
Command respect
But like all humans,
Even the best make mistakes.

Some may even be bad guys
In law enforcement guise
Who mock righteous truth
By living a lie.
Though modern police
Are the ones in our sights,
This was probably true
Of those medieval knights.

Without them, there's chaos
In an unregulated world,
Where there is no order or law
To which we can hold.
Imperfect then
And imperfect today,
We need people with shields
To lend a tad of protection
In their imperfect ways.