A Thin Blue Line

In honor of Lenny, Conrad, Herb, Edie, Justin, Dylan and so very many more.

To your spouses and families, too, my love and deepest respect.

A Thin Blue Line

~ by Lyn Marinello

Perhaps it is a heartbeat stretched ridiculously tight

Choose so unselfishly to take an oath to do what's right

Maybe it's a tight rope on which they tip-toe cautiously

Defending whomever needs it with dutiful ferocity

It is the fragile-ist of fibers conducting communal civility

Risking life without regret; a choice made without apology

It's that ever-proverbial limit that is drawn within the sand

Millisecond decisions in which they have to take a stand

It's the boundary they protect but by which they're also bound

No guarantee of coming home from work, an open made when boots meet ground

A perimeter that's maintained without question or debate

Subject to threats unfathomable and a plethora of misdirected hate

The vast majority beneath that badge serve selflessly shift by shift

Blessed are the peacemakers; a real and true societal gift

In unimaginable moments they promise to protect and serve

Respect and honor and our total pride are the benefits they all deserve

For they're not paid what they're worth as they stand only to define

The law, what's right, and you and me and that incredibly thin blue line.