WHEN A COP SLEEPS

"When a Cop Sleeps"


Sometimes when a cop sleeps,
the demons come.
The demons bring all the things you want to forget.

The demons bring the tears and sweat,
the spit and the blood,
Oh God the blood.

The demons bring the broken bodies from the wrecks
the sickening smell of death
and the kids...Oh God please, not the kids.

Mainly the demons bring the eyes...

the hatred and desperation in the eyes of the people you fight,
the pleading and pain of the people you try to help,
and the quiet and blankness in death of the ones you couldn't.

The demons bring sounds too....

the sounds of tires skidding and metal crunching from the wrecks,
the gunshots that seem so loud on TV yet so muffled on the street,
the screams and crying that all blend together after a while.

The demons won't leave...
Alcohol and sleeping pills work for a while
but they come back.

Some have used their own deaths to flee from them,
but most of us are scared that in causing our own death....
we'll be with them forever.

But the demons aren't all that bad,
it's better for the demons to come in your sleep,
than for the angels to come during your shift.

(they say that if you're time comes on the job,
your fallen brothers come back to take you home)

So the next time you see a cop having a bad day and he seems irritated,
and you think "What a jerk!"
Stop for a moment and wonder:

What demons came to him last night or what new ones did he meet today?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Great post............ All of it true, I can't sleep alot of the nights, the alcohol and my sleeping pill don't stop the nightmares, they just lessen them at times. It is our calling it is our life. We all cope differently. but it never goes away. We all need to reach out to one another, we all speak the same language, and only those of us that wear that uniform understand what we say. It is not a "club" that others want to join, nor what most people can handle..........

With every wish there comes a curse. That is how i sum up this job.
April 05, 2009 9:12 PM
Beat And Release said…
Doing what we do and seeing what we see can have an adverse impact. Because of this particular post, I looked at my own reactions, or lack thereof, and put some of my thoughts and self-analysis on my blog. Maybe it will help someone thinking about getting into the field.
April 15, 2009 10:23 PM
Diver said…
Hey folks that's what I'm here for, to help out fellow LEO's. Hell I've been on this damn ( but lovable) job for over 20 years and just keep on going like the eveready bunny. A few of my friends have said maybe I should teach at Depot when I retire from the roads and URT. Would that be retirement?? NO!! But I unfortunately have known a few guys that couldn't get the adrenaline out of their blood and drank themselves to death in retirement.
April 16, 2009 1:24 AM
Beat And Release said…
I have seen a few of those wonderful old-timers go that route myself, PD. It's sad, but it always seems like the job was the only thing keeping them going. I can retire at 50 and hope to live well beyond that. I do have my teaching and my specialties to fall back on, though, so that gives me some hope :)
April 17, 2009 1:44 AM
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