A Day of Infamy in Uvalde

Remaining one step ahead of the criminal mind

is a critical goal of policing society but nothing

takes the place of preventing the actual commission 

of acts of violence by alert law enforcement whose 

purpose is to secure the public from violent harm.

A goal and a practise so beloved of little boys

who view their futures through the lens of the hero 

complex whereby their future is fiercely envisaged 

as exemplars in the pursuit of saving humanity 

from the dire actions of the criminal class. The 

passionately aspiring boy becomes the stuff of legend

a conscientious and stalwart officer of the law 

whose actions compel universal admiration, the 

goal achieved from childhood to adult. Until the 

ultimate test of professional courage and potential 

sacrifice emerges and the psyche of survival intervenes 

forcing a step back from commitment, leading those 

to whom parents in mortal dread of their children's

lives forfeit to a mass shooter turn beseechingly

to the bold  action of salvation only to discover their

fear for their children's lives is echoed by the

guardians of public securities' fears for their own.