The Janitor

Bobby seemed to have no purpose,
No meaning to his life.
He had no friends or family,
No children and no wife.

Nobody ever noticed him,
His life was miniscule.
Just a meaningless janitor,
At a local high school.

He worked from dawn till setting sun,
That school was all he knew.
Nobody tried to learn his name,
They never wanted to.

To them, he was invisible,
Lost to obscurity.
A phantom to indifference
And blind iniquity.

Forty years of faithful service
Flew by like wildfire.
Bobby's bones were growing weary,
It was time to retire.

But fate took a surprising turn
As the weeks slipped away,
It dealt an unexpected hand,
On Bobby's final day.

He heard the sound of screaming from
The cafeteria!
And then he heard the sound of guns,
And mass hysteria.

As Bobby ran toward the danger,
He said a silent prayer.
And as he entered the lunch room
no one knew he was there.

It only took him a moment
A witness later said,
He swung that mop like Barry Bonds,
At one assailant's head.

In shock, the other turned his way,
And watched his partner fall.
"That old man appeared from nowhere!"
He would later recall.

In surprise, he pulled the trigger,
Point blank at Bobby's chest.
The round dug deep, and nicked his heart,
As blood poured from his breast.

The shooter turned his aim away,
Toward the frantic crowd.
But before he could opened fire,
Darkness fell, like a shroud.

With Bobby's final breath of life,
He cracked him in the head.
The gunman toppled like a tree,
As Bobby fell down dead.

It's been over a decade now,
And nothing is the same.
Nobody can forget that day,
They honor Bobby's name.

They all speak of the janitor,
And how he paid the price;
These stories told in honor,
of Bobby's sacrifice.

And no one can miss the statue,
Town Square is where it stands.
It's an effigy of Bobby,
With that mop in his hands.

It commemorates a hero,
Unnoticed till that day.
Ensuring that his memory
Will never fade away.