A FireFighters Gloves

A Firefighters Gloves hold many thing
From elderly arms to a kids broken swing
From the hands they shake and the backs they pat

To the tiny claw marks of another cat in the tree

At 2 am they are filled with the chrome
From the DWI who was on her way home
And the equipment they use to roll back the dash
From a family of 6 she involved in the crash

The brush rakes in spring, wearing the palms out
When the wind does a "90" to fill them with doubt

The thumb of the glove wipes the sweat from the brow
Of the face of a firefighter who mutters "What now"

They hold inch and three quarters hoses flowing one seventy five
So the ones going in, come back out alive

When the regulator goes; then there isn't too much,
But the bypass valve they eagerly clutch

The rescue equipment, the ropes, the C-collars;
The lives that they save never measured in dollars

Are the obvious things firefighters gloves hold
Or, so that is what I've been always told

But there are other things Firefighters Gloves touch
Those are the things we all need so much

They hold back the rage on that 3 am call
They hold in the fear when you're lost in a hall

They hold back the pity, agony, sorrow
They hold in the desire to "Do it tomorrow"

A gloves just a glove till it's on firefighters
Who work all day long just to pull an all-nighter

And into the fray they charge without fear
At the sound of a "Help" they think that they hear

When firefighters hands go into the glove
It's a firefighter who always fills it with love

Sometimes the sorrow is too much to bear
And it seeps the glove and burns deep "in there"

Off comes the gloves when the call is done
And into the pocket until the next run

The hands become lonely and cold for a bit
And shake just a little thinking of it

And they sit there so red eyed with their gloves in their coats
The tears come so fast that the furniture floats

They're not so brave now; their hands they can't hide
I guess it just means that they're human inside

And though some are paid and others are not
The gloves feel the same when it's cold or it's hot

To someone you're helping to just get along
When you fill them with love, you always feel strong

And so when I go on my final big ride
I hope to have my gloves by my side

To show to St. Peter at that heavenly gate
Cause as everyone knows, firefighters don't wait.