Beware, Be Wary

TO OUR NATION’S POLICE, I SAY. BEWARE.” Beware of populism, white nationalism, and a host of other “-isms” that may appear to challenge your ability to guard all people, our democracy, and way of life.

Say “no” to the enforcement of immigration laws — for to acquiesce is fail to protect everyone; that is, undocumented persons will not be able to report a crime or come to you for help or protection. It’s a decision we made as police leaders over 50 years ago. It is a strong part of who we are as our nation’s guardians.

There may be other challenges to you and your sworn Code of Ethics to “uphold the Constitution and honor the rights of all to life, liberty, equality, and justice… never employ(ing) unnecessary force… respect(ing) the privacy of people and communities that you serve, fully obey(ing) the laws that you are sworn to enforce…” and to serve by the example of character and conduct, exercising restraint, and always being “mindful of the welfare of others.”

It may not come to this, but we need to be wary.

I have tried to examine my own feelings about my country after serving as a U.S. Marine, three decades in municipal policing, and in writing this blog for the past 14 years.

In the past, I have put these feelings into poetry. I have found writing poetry helps me process and understand my self and others better.

We may be coming into trying times. Be careful. Be good, trustworthy, and decent.

__________________________________

Why do i feel so bad
even grief-stricken?
i mean it was only an election
some win some loose
some problems get addressed 
others don’t
so what? accept it you might tell me
but it’s not the election but the 
an ominous signal
not because my candidate lost
but because the process was so ugly
dream-erasing
i lost that childhood dream for my country 
yes i had a dream
perhaps it was your dream too?
a dream of peace justice unity
a dream of country above self
a dream of kindness over hatred 
equality replacing race and sexism
what I thought was ‘the american way’
rights inalienable
rights of life liberty happiness-seeking
in a sweet sweet land
my dream became a nightmare
a foreboding reality that 
i still fail to understand 
who are we really?
this loss cuts hard and deep
dissolving the dream
i wake up
how good and decent and wonderful 
we thought we could be
unique in the world
multicultural pluralists
a place we all could succeed
blessed with abundancy 
know-how passion commitment opportunity for all of us 
to work share prosper care 
love and be loved
ah yes love
to be the standard of liberty
dreamed for us by dreamers long ago
‘give me your tired, your poor
your huddled masses 
yearning to breathe free’
(yes enslaved persons served them
and aboriginals exterminated
no they didn’t get it right
but still they dreamed
dreamed to get it right)
a lofty aspiration of peace and goodness 
a collective shared vision that kept
the klan nazis white supremacists militias nationalists 
and other evil doers at bay
that restraint and vision has been removed
revealing an odorous ugliness
yes it’s in us
always been there
restrained not dominant 
it lurks in the shadow of our psyches
i’m  sad 
because of who we could be
is today really who we are?
no i’m not buyin’ it
i never will
that’s not me
and i don’t think it’s you
there’s a long hard road ahead
are you ready?
it will be a while
before we can sleep again.