Law Enforcement Poets

Just out, Rattle #37 features a selection of poems by fourteen law enforcement officers. “One might not expect any similarity between policing and poetry,” the editors write, “but with reams of paperwork, plenty of drama, and a need for attention to fine detail, poets and cops do have much in common.” And as retired police officer James Fleming explains in his introduction, “a sparse, carefully-written police report can evoke tears.”

Included in Law Enforcement Poets:

James Fleming “Cops on the Beat” (essay)
Madeline Artenberg “Guardians of the Good”
Barbara Ann Carle “Shots Fired”
Sarah Cortez “The Secret”
Betty Davis “Fred Astaire and Betty Davis”
James Fleming “Working Homocide”
Jesse S. Fourmy “Duluth”
Hans Jewinski “Blue Funk”
Suzanne Kessler “Mercy”
Dean Olson “Yellow Sailboat”
David S. Pointer “Hooverites and Jarhead MPs”
John J. Powers “Proof of Service”
G. Emil Reutter “Shoulders”
Vance Voyles “After”
William Walsh “The Old Me”
Sarah Cortez “More Cops on the Beat” (essay)