Calling all police poets! Police1’s poetry column highlights some of the inspirational, moving and funny poems authored by our readers.
This poem is by Carlton B. Wicker, Sr. “I was inspired to write the piece after a particularly trying workday. about which I was telling my mother,” Carlton said. “She uttered the words, '...heavy is the head that wears the crown.’ It provoked me to think of all the roles (hats) officers wear every day behind the badge. We become all things to all people that we may win over a few, for the good of all.”
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Many Hats and a Heavy Crown
I was led to this life
By the divine hand of a divine force.
I was led to this life
And so I started my course.
I began on this journey, and I walked on my road,
Learning my craft, and to carry my load.
Developing a big red heart that, even in the blackest moments
Continued to pump the bluest blood.
This blue blood allowed me courage
To stand in the gap
For those that were too weak,
And to be the voice,
for those that couldn’t speak.
To be the guardian, the sole protector of life
Being the marriage counselor
For a struggling husband and wife
The voice of reason, for a mind drenched in anger,
The thin blue line
Between safety and danger,
Between chaos and peace
Order and calamity
Glorifying my God through every situation handed me.
And when it got tough
I stayed my course,
Sometimes I was a doctor, sometimes I was a nurse
And I tried to leave people better
Than when I find them at their worst.
Maybe feed a stranger, when his stomach was empty,
To find strength from within
When the enemy would tempt me.
A counselor, a friend, sometimes veterinarian
A protector, an advisor, sometimes a disciplinarian
A track star, a mechanic, an enforcer, a writer
A watcher, a seer, a defender, a fighter
A man of standards, a patrolman ever vigilant,
A peace bringer, a peacemaker, a peacekeeper, ever diligent.
My neck would sometimes crane and hurt,
With the heaviness of my crown,
And with so many hats I’d wear
They would sometimes weigh me down,
Cause underneath my cape and badge
I still stand as just a man,
With my back straight and chest out,
and with my heavy crown in hand.
But this responsibility is mine,
Although it sometimes seems too great
I’d hand it off to someone else
If I thought they’d bear its weight.
But I wear each hat with a smile
And I bear my crown with pride,
Look each danger in the eye
With justice on my side.
And I made my split-second decisions, whether they were right or wrong,
And took whatever the consequences
With a heart that was two men strong.
And when I finish my crime patrol
Down here upon this Earth
I hope my life has blessed at least
One person since my birth.
And if I make it to Heaven, and at God’s side I sit
On top of my earthly hats and crown
I hope my heavenly ones fit.
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