MIKE DAILEY

IT WAS A FOUR TO TWELVE

Busy. We handled an aided, an old man with chest pains. As we were leaving, Mike saw something.

He was special that way, always seeing things no one else could. He tried to teach me. For a while, I wanted to be just like him.

I’ve been going to the cemetery ever since. I get there early, in uniform. I clean off the grave, arrange some flowers, and then just stand there waiting for the family to arrive. They’ve never said a word to me.

This never would have happened if he wasn’t such a hot-shot. Or if we weren’t always in such competition. Maybe if I just stayed home that day.
 

MOST OF ALL I FEEL THE EYES

Skin raised by strap marks and burns

Running through litter from room to room

Bound to a bedpost by an ankle with cord

Divulging her secret to protect her little sister

Silencing his brother upon news of mother’s demise

Accusing me of thinking she’d just cry herself to sleep.
 

THE DOOR IS OPEN

pointed at the floor
narrow corridor

sheet covers window
dim
dirty walls

greasy pans on stove
open utensil draw

torn couch
T.V.
male black - stumble back - blue hoody with a carving knife raised…

step to the left…bend your knees…punch out the gun…slowly squeeze…

just like the range…just like I’ve practiced…hundred of rounds…twice a year…

hammer draws back, cylinder turns, knife strikes
the floor
 

AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS

a blade of light
piercing the gloom
reveals urban gossamer
and upturned eyes
from a tangle of limbs
like bark covered vines

works strewn beside her on the feces covered tile
spike poised
suspended
at the intrusion

“Do it”
I shift uncomfortably
the junkie blinks
“Lemme see ya do it,” Eddie repeats

With a fluid motion
her limbs unfold like a flower welcomes sun
head arching back
eyes closed
mouth opened
covered in sweat

she sees me
peering over the hedges
too high
exposed

she gasps
moans
a rattling sound

until fatigued
Eddie says, “shift”
and I resume chest compressions
while her children pray in agony
beneath a crucifix draped with palm
above the bed.
 

Mike Dailey is a Lieutenant in the NYPD. He worked patrol for several years in various precincts of Northern Manhattan and the Bronx, and now serves as an attorney in the Police Department. He's married, the father of three, and lives in the Bronx.