A Few Words on the Death of An American Police Officer
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
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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.