A Bobby’s life

He walked the street
And pounded the beat
Where did it take you
With black booted feet?

You started so young
A journey with rain
From naivety close
To innocence lost lane

What things you did see?
Not to be unseen
Some thought you hero
Others thought mean

A uniform only
Emotionally inert
No one saw
The inside hurt

Apart from your loved ones
And children perhaps
And close friends and colleagues
With strain when you collapse

The road is so long
And baggage picked up
Where do you store it
When you fill up your cup

You didn’t do this!
You you didn’t do that!
They didn’t see you
Under the tall Bobby’s hat.

When you made the difference
To that lost lonely child,
And dealt this the rapist
And paperwork you filed

For it is more than a uniform
Oh servant of the crown
When after that fatal
You’re called back to town

Haven’t you got better things?
Is constantly said
You may be right
But you can’t see in my head

And when it’s all over
At home in the calm.
You don’t see my cupboard
With lots of citalopram.

So when you next see the bobby
Walking the street
He’s been down many roads
With his blacked booted feet.