Friday, November 20, 2020

Barney Fife! Thou Shouldst be Living at this Hour - poem

 

Lawrence Hall

Mhall46184@aol.com

https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/

poeticdrivel.blogspot.com

 

 

Barney Fife! Thou Shouldst be Living at this Hour

 

-as William Wordsworth did not say

 

Police chiefs are costumed as admirals these days

Or as generals, with medals and eagles and stars

Peaked caps and polished boots, more Patton than Patton

In stern command of parking-lot plywood lecterns

 

Their trousers are crisply pressed, as are their frowns

And all their seams line up with military precision

Each gold and silver button polished as befits

Leaders formidable to civilization’s foes

 

And thus they appear, gloriously attired

Explaining to their people why they’ve just been fired

 

 

(I admire police - beat cops, the proper coppers - but the resume’ builders who rise to high office and dress up like Hohenzollern postal clerks are another matter.)

 

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