Different Slants

Seeing the World from a New Angle

A Few Words on the Death of An American Police Officer

Filed under: Uncategorized — Bob at 12:54 pm on Wednesday, February 3, 2021

by Robert M. Katzman © February 3, 2021

Tho’ I am a Poet, not important

I believe each of us 

Should offer what we can

Certain moments in Time

Transcend 

Both Politics and Debate

*

I knew of Policemen

Before I could walk or talk

Born into a South Side of Chicago

Irish/Jewish neighborhood

Where in every other house lived

An Irish Cop

*

I knew them gradually as 

A local and smiling presence

Not too busy to talk to me

To teach me things

Never realizing 

How many Policemen

(When all of them were only men)

Were to be in my future

*

At fifteen I opened 

A wooden newsstand

A simple shack

To pay my way, on my own

Older Policemen began stopping by

Checking on the 

Very young, very naive

New kid on the block

*

As time went by

The number of Policemen 

Who looked after me

Became too many to count

I offered them free newspapers

As a gesture of appreciation

But no ten-cent Chicago newspaper

Made them care about me

*

This Streetwise Relationship

Continued

“Teachin’ the kid the ropes”

They’d say

Affection and Vigilance

As the Boy became a Man

For twenty years

During those two decades

I was never robbed

*

I grew to know so many of them

Kind, gentle, friendly men

Unless a distress call came

Over their radio on their shoulder

And in amazement

I watched their demeanor change

From a Friend

To a Defender

*

I was never in the military

Never been under fire

But I know what bravery is

I have seen it

*

In summer 1982

During a sudden angry riot 

In Chicago’s Hyde Park

Surrounded by a

Hundred furious men

Who thought I was somebody else

A lone Police car drove up

A single Irish Cop

Parted the crowd

Took my arm

Took me away

And saved my life

*

My friendship with Policemen

Has continued on for decades

When I write a story

About a Cop

They are always Irish

They are always brave

*

I have a Debt

Unrepayable

*

I am compelled to state the following:

Some facts are irrefutable

On January 6, 2021

The President of the United States

Was alive

On January 6, 2021

A certain Capitol Policeman 

Officer Brian D. Sicknick

Was alive

*

Some facts are irrefutable:

On January 7, 2021

The President of the United States

Was alive

On January 7, 2021

A certain Capitol Policeman 

Officer Brian D. Sicknick

Was dead

*

On February 3, 2021

A former American President

Was living his life in Florida

On February 3, 2021

Officer Brian D. Sicknick

Under the US Capitol Rotunda

Was reduced to Ashes

Ashes in a box

*

Justice! Justice! Justice!

Must be served

There is a Debt

To be paid

*

In one hundred years

History will have forgotten

That President

*

But in one hundred years

What will our history say 

About

Officer Brian D. Sicknick

Surrounded and savagely beaten by 

A faceless screaming mob

Swarming the United States Capitol

and

Who was brought to Justice

and

Who…Was…Not!

*

We

Americans

Have a Debt due

To Officer Brian D. Sicknick

***

**************************

Publishing News! 

Bob Katzman’s two new true Chicago books are now for sale, from him!
Vol. One: A Savage Heart and Vol. Two: Fighting Words

Gritty, violent, friendship, classic American entrepreneurship love, death, heartbreak and the real dirt about surviving in a completely corrupt major city under the Chicago Machine. More history and about one man’s life than a person may imagine.

Please visit my new website: http://www.dontgoquietlypress.com
If a person doesn’t want to use PayPaI, I also have a PO Box & I ship anywhere in America.

Send me a money order with your return and contact info.
I will get your books to you within ten days.
Here’s complete information on how to buy my books:

Vol 1: A Savage Heart and Vol. 2: Fighting Words
My books weigh almost 2 pounds each, with about 525 pages each and there are a total together of 79 stories and story/poems.

Robert M. Katzman
Don’t Go Quietly Press
PO Box 44287
Racine, Wis. 53404-9998  (262)752-3333, 8AM–7PM

Books cost $29.95 each, plus shipping

For: (1)$3.95; (2)$5.95; (3)$7.95; (4)$8.95 (5)$9.95;(6) $10.95

(7) $11.95; (8) $12.95; (9)$13.95 (10)$15.95 (15)$19.95

I am also for hire if anyone wants me to read my work and answer questions in the Chicago/Milwaukee area. Schools should call me for quantity discounts for 30 or more books. Also: businesses, bookstores, private organizations or churches and so on.

5 Comments »

Comment by bruce

February 3, 2021 @ 1:24 pm

tell it bobby!

Comment by Brad Dechter

February 3, 2021 @ 4:06 pm

It’s a debt that tragically will never be paid unless the Senate Republicans are now sandbagging us publicans to surprise Donny Death.
The Republicants should be disenfranchised as a political party for allowing this to happen. It is a charade. They could not have hit lower moral ground any harder. They have gone subfloor.

Comment by Mary Beth Williams

February 3, 2021 @ 5:38 pm

Powerful ode to a man – a policeman – who deserved better because he was so much better than all of this. Thank you for honoring Brian Sicknick with the gift of your heartfelt and genuine words. I was touched by this tribute to him and all who through the years supported you.

Comment by Mary Beth Williams

February 3, 2021 @ 5:50 pm

Powerful ode to this man – a policeman – who deserved better because he himself was better than all of this. Love this heartfelt and genuine testament to Brian Sicknick you created with the gift of your words – honoring him and all who have supported you through the years.

Comment by Jim Payne

February 4, 2021 @ 6:56 pm

Nice tribute.

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