by Tom Brosman
Charley was a trooper
And he worked his beat with care.
His brother Danny was a banker
And a self-made millionaire.
Danny’s office was in Bellevue
With a mahogany desk and a leather chair,
A twelve thousand dollar couch stood beside the wet bar there
And from twenty stories up he had a million dollar view.
Charley’s office was a troop car
And beside his seat a .12 gauge stood.
He knew his beat from near to far
And he surveyed it across his Crown Vic’s hood.
Danny went on trips to Spain
And Portugal and such.
Charley counted every dime
And after bills there wasn’t much.
With Danny’s pay, even after bills,
He put the bulk in stocks and bonds
And the banker thought about his brother
Who risked his life from dusk til dawn.
“Why on earth does Charley do it,
For so little in return?
He wears that badge so proudly
And for himself shows no concern.
I can drive down through Seattle
In my Jag or big Mercedes fast
And see the buildings that I’ve bankrolled pass
While my brother always faces battle.
What does Charley see in a life
That’s chained to twenty-four by seven,
When he could live a life like mine
That is a double slice of heaven?”
Every 10th and 25th, Charley banked his trooper check
And thought of Danny who was buried in riches to his neck.
The trooper pondered about his life and living
And decided there wasn’t a lot he was missing.
Yes, Danny dined on shrimp and steak
And Charley was happy for his brother.
But never in the trooper’s dreams,
Would he trade places with the other.
For every building Danny built,
Charley savored his job’s own thrills.
For all the DUIs he’d popped
Before someone was surely killed.
For twenty years Charley had worked
Between the doors and on the road.
He’d rolled to fatals, and crashes bad.
He had comforted the injured, the dying, the sad.
On the roads of his detachment’s sector
His brother and sister troopers kept the peace.
They were law and strong protection
In rain and snow and wind and sleet.
“Why would Danny live a life soft and safe from strife?
With little purpose as far as I can see?
While I am dealing with death and life,
He is choosing between cheddar or brie.”
I’ve lost all count of those I’ve helped
Or the number of lives I’ve saved.
All the speeders, the nights, the days,
And people stranded on dark highways.
So, my banker brother can think his thoughts
That his house and cars are super.
He can’t comprehend the satisfaction brought,
By being a Washington State Trooper.