Police Officer Barry Dean Melear

A SONNET FOR BARRY

He was the first one in out troop
The first to leave from our group
A brother a father a lover and a friend
The first to meet an unjust end

The sorrows and joys of men and boys
And the love to them given
Like warm rain from heaven
Comes in the spring, leaves in the fall

But the sorrows of life pass like spring rain
With the passing of life to that mystic plain
And the joy of love, the peace of sleep
Elusive in life, though they may be

Takes our brother, our father, our lover and friend
And ushers him past our vision of end
And all of the joy but none of the sorrow
That all men have known and will know tomorrow

Will keep him safe in times warm hand
Till we can journey to his land

RR Ringo, 1977

Robert R Ringo
Atlanta Police Department

June 2, 2021