One Paul Seven

I lost my friend
An officer I loved
And trusted.
We rode together
Spent hours
Years
Talking about families
Laughing
Joking
Thinking we were invincible
Bullet proof.

We shared tragedy.
We responded to pleas
Of strangers
Who needed a cop.

He stood beside me
When I told a young wife
Her husband was never coming home again.

Now my friend will never come home again.

I spoke at his funeral
Tried to comfort his widow
His children
Friends
Fellow officers.

We covered his coffin in a flag.
We stood at rigid attention.
We fired a volley at his grave.
We went home.

But One Paul Seven is not going home.

We tortured ourselves outside the chapel
Calling his response code
Into the radio
We waited
And waited
Tears coursing our brave cheeks
Chins quivering
At the damned static.

One Paul Seven did not answer.