Doorman in a Foreign Land
Forty years Leroy was a doorman
at a nice hotel in a big city.
He was a country boy the day
he got the job because he was tall
and the uniform fit, the manager said.
He was still a country boy the day
he retired because he was too old,
the new manager somewhat said.
He got a small pension, less than
social security, but he and his wife
figured they’d make do.
Leroy mailed snapshots of himself
in livery to his brother Darryl
raising hogs on the family farm.
After seeing Leroy in uniform,
Darryl called him the General.
The brothers made a living, each
in his own way, one as a doorman
in a foreign land, the other butchering
hogs in his native country.
Hogs may be hogs, Darryl would say
every time the General would call
to have jowl and pigs’ feet sent to him.
People have to eat, Darryl would say,
but don’t have to stay in no fancy hotel.
Donal Mahoney
