The Blood, The Mud, The Sweat and The Tears
By S.J. Marks, LAPD Badge #26144 (circa 1971)
Served with Sergeant Bert Gilham, Hollywood Division Major Crimes Unit and Vice Squad in the late 70s on the Los Angeles Police Department under Chief William Parker. These police officers set the bar to professionalize the occupation and few understood what that meant at the time. With the protests today, the political climate going against police and the point blank executions of my brothers and sisters on the “thin blue line” this small poem will revive your spirit and help you carry on…
God Bless and stay safe out there, respectfully
Retired McKinney Police Corporal Chris Grollnek
Badge #115 Patrol Supervisor-Undercover Narcotics Detective-SWAT
The Blood, The Mud, The Sweat and The Tears
After the Academy, when he hits the street,
He’ll save the world, and death he’ll cheat,
“What a great job,” he says to his peers,
“and the blood, the mud, the sweat and the tears!”
But then reality hits, he sees the world as its built,
The robbers, the rapists, the cop that was killed.
“These folks are inhuman,” he laments over beers,
“I’m sick of the blood, the mud, the sweat and the tears.”
In some horror-filled moment, no matter his fright,
They expect him to act, and always be right.
All the sights that he sees, all the things that he hears,
And always the blood, the mud, the sweat and the tears.
He’s expected to be tough, and sensitive, too,
Or else take off that suit of blue!
First boredom, then terror, in an instant change gears,
Don’t mind the blood, the mud, the sweat and the tears!
Psychologist, lawyer, combat soldier,
A little lost girl cries on his shoulder.
But who is there to quell his fears,
After the blood, the mud, the sweat and the tears?
After his retirement, he thinks back on his life,
All the things that were lost, the divorce from his wife.
Quite a toll’s been taken from all those years,
In the blood, the mud, the sweat and the tears.
Filed Under Article # 97115/1991
The Blood, The Mud, The Sweat and The Tears
