Gazlam Motaung Poet Villanelle

The Honest Cop's Burden

To the honest police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

The city sleeps light under a copper moon,
''The law is a tyrant'', his internal tune,
He runs the dark streets in the heat of the
noon.

Chasing the shadow,a ghost in the swoon,
''No man is free who is a slave to his passion,''
He runs the dark streets in the heat of the
noon

His chief is a pharaoh of the modern saloon,
His superior'wealth a golden,slick fashion,
''The law is a tyrant,'' his internal tune.

''A fish rots first from the head'', a grim boon,
The corruption a cancer in every transaction,
He runs the dark streets in the heat of the
noon.

He keeps his small oath, an ancient
monsoon,
A warrior of conscience, a silent reaction,
'' The law is a tyrant'', his internal tune.

A single just man in a world of lagoon,
He is the thin blue line in a sick,broken
nation,
He runs the dark streets in the heat of the
noon,
''The law is a tyrant,'' his internal tune.

1. The law is a tyrant-aphorism from ancient
 Greek law and philosophy
2. ''No man is free who is a slave to his passion''-
A maxim from the philosopher Pythagoras of ancient Greece
3. '' A fish rots first from the head.''-A proverb/maxim with ancient
roots in various cultures,including Chinese and Italian.

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