Retired Poet’s Society
Former Manalapan Local 229 member translates his support for
law enforcement into poetry
n BY JOSHUA SIGMUND
Even back in his day – from the mid-1970s through 2001
– retired Manalapan Local 229 member John Alliano and his
law enforcement colleagues faced resistance from society and
frustration from within the ranks.
“But it’s nothing compared to what is occurring now,” he
admits. “While working, I felt I could be part of the solution as
I worked every day with my fellow officers. We had the support
of those top political leaders who demanded the best from us
and supported us. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be
the case today.”
Alliano, who was Manalapan Local 229 State Delegate for
six years, still communicates with his former colleagues currently on the front lines, and watches as they “become fodder
to a machine that is fragmenting this country with indecisive
mixed messages,” he bemoans.
Following the assassinations of officers in Dallas and Baton
Rouge, Alliano was at a point where he needed to do something to channel his anger, frustration and need to contribute
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to the support of his brothers and sisters both active and retired.
“I took it upon myself to channel my energy and write down
my feelings as an expression of all of our anger, pain and
frustrations during this tremulous time,” reports the retired
Manalapan captain. And during the course of one day, these
feelings manifested into a deeply emotional poem.
“I’m no poet by any shape of the mind,” Alliano confirms.
“I’ve never written anything like that before, but I just started
writing some lines, then take a break, then a few words would
come into mind and I’d write them down.”
Alliano posted the poem to his Facebook page and received
lots of positive remarks. Then people started asking for copies of it to show their coworkers. Eventually Alliano decided
to submit it to the NJ State PBA, where President Pat Colligan
thought the membership should be given the chance to read
this creative expression that would help members as they deal
with a challenging time in law enforcement.
So without further ado, here is “It’s come to this” by John
Alliano…d