Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Complications XIII of XIII
“… Here Yank, by the fence.”
“Cover.”
“Looks clear though.”
“This is that-Somewhere plateau.”
“Dunker Church.”
“Land paid for.”
“Let’s talk a bit Yank.”
“About Kyd?”
“That and something else.”
“What’s complicated about Kyd Reb?”
“I don’t know what isn’t.”
“Start.”
“Antietam was a day in a campaign.”
“Lee’s 1862 Maryland Campaign.”
“This plateau was the fulcrum of that campaign.”
“We talked of that.”
“There were other fulcrums too.”
“Go on.”
“Kyd, he …”
“… Fought here?”
“With himself Gus.”
“Thus the complications.”
“Right.”
“What else?”
Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Fire “Something you said Gus.”
“When?”
“At the cemetery.”
“You never said its name?”
“Elmwood.”
“And what did I say?”
“‘Alive’ when I asked ‘What’s a Reb without a Yank?’”
“I meant from the war.”
“We’d all already be dead by now Gus.”
“Okay.”
“It made me remember something about you, something about Private Augustus Kotka.”
“Go on.”
“There were two Johnnies there when I killed you.”
“So?”
“You had the drop on us Gus.”
“Maybe.”
“The first Johnny saw you and yelled.”
“His mouth moved.”
“He yelled ‘Yank!’”
“Then?”
“Then I drew and fired.”
“Which hand?”
“Right.”
[Silence.]
“That’s why you said ‘Alive’ before: you had the drop on two Johnnies Gus, so you could’ve fired first … why didn’t you fire?”
“There’s something else that happened, something you didn’t mention.”
“Say more.”
“Say more about Kyd.”
“Fair enough Gus.”
“Let’s say we bivouac here, you know – out there.”
“You know it’s daybreak, right?”
Gus Kotka and Johnny Reb Thereat Ponderances “Recall Reb, that I was a private and volunteer.”
“Meaning?”
“‘Bivouac’ was my favorite command.”
“Rest does sound good.”
“What happens next?”
“Rest.”
“How about a song first?”
“I know one called ‘Deep Water’ you might like.”
“Guitar?”
“Plucking.”
“Say more.”
“Imagine a goddess singing about weathering the storm.”
“Goddess you say.”
“Blunt one … then we’ll do some-Somewhere bivouac time.”
“Can I comment on the song?”
“Later.”
“Ponderances?”
“Encouraged.”
“Let’s hear it then Johnny.”
“Here we go Gus …”
*Next Up: A dietary-double feature begins on Saturday December 30th with an order of Peppered Cannabinoids, followed on NYE with an abstract gut-serotonin poem, A Microbiota Ode to the Brain-Gut Axis.
We’ll continue journeying with Gus, Johnny and We the People on Juneteenth 2018.
Thanks All ~ Peace.
Posted by Bryan W. Brickner
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