The patrolman cares

what traffic light colors mean

and with a gun enforces

scarlet, yellow and lime-green.

Beneath a traffic light

he decides to hide and hunt

for motorists that fail to stop

for the color scarlet. 

But for the beat of his heart

and splash of color on the street

the patrolman’s world is quiet,

and in the night his thoughts leap.

The patrolman is patient   

as laws of color rule the road

with scarlet, lime-green and 

yellow-gold.  

He ponders why he was placed

on this planet to enforce

scarlet, lime-green and yellow-gold; 

yet contemplate his existence

as the world grows old.        

The Patrolman can't ignore 

inside himself a world of thoughts

where phantoms enforce

another world's laws

arresting spirits coming fast 

through his beating heart.