the mundane
is illuminatingif you look
his cats indoor and out had finished their canned foodhe always thought of them as C-rationsnever the newer nomenclature MCI-rations(Military Combat Individual) not that hed ever been in the service or would he wasnt one to be coerced into becoming Government-Issued(GI Joe boys -- GIs -- Property of the Government) while someone might look at the US government and see a benevolent force beneficent he understood why he was taughtrather forced to learn the history he did in school – although not without repercussions he called it his indoctrination – the slaughters and murders its different regimes perpetuated were better left unknown to the people who Rahrahed hailed the Flag and sang the Star-Spangled Banner
he wasnt enticed
as it was when his induction notice reached his parents house he was long gone
virtually(cutehuh) he was drawn a
low number during the televised Prime Time BINGO Draft
not three weeks after graduation
he bought a stationwagon provisioned it with C-rations that a friends older military brother had procured(theres that lingo – he had it down pat) for
him(the elder brother thought they were for his brother) and
off he went to disappear into the muck and mire of America mailing postcards home
from places hed been only after he left them Iowan postcards from Mankato Minnesota Mankato
from Sioux Falls Sioux Falls from the Black Hills the Black Hills from Casper Casper
from Miles City
he bypassed big cities and kept to
the personable blue highways where he stuck out like copper among silvered
parishioners fortunately he had the gift
for gab(polished by debate team) and was able to pull out credible lines in a
moments notice(honed by which walking and reading)
he worked odd jobs for cash barter or food never stayed too long in
one place and to those on the scentwhy he wasnt
in the service he met their audacity
with lies he was either on sabbatical or
knew enough French to play a visiting Frenchman speaking in broken EnglishHow
do you say
he played his White mans carda
sleight of hand that only coloured people truly knew and could appreciate “But of course the world consists only of
absurd ideas” BermhardNO Bernhard to the best of his knowledge only he called
him Bermhard “To shake people up (denounce
scandalise just plain get on peoples
nerves), that’s my real pleasure”
thats how he went place to place
to place across America
inside of a year he determined
that America wasnt worth dying for at
least not in Vietnam
he went homehe refused induction he didnt step
forward(a friend inside the miltary told him if he wanted to fight it to fight
it from outside – his friend wrote him from the military prison Fort
Leavenworth Kansas) Christ Kansas
the beating Heartland rolling wheatfields to his mind wheat was only thing that saved the state from the Atomic and Nuclear devastation Nevada endured littered with subsidence craters
the beating Heartland rolling wheatfields to his mind wheat was only thing that saved the state from the Atomic and Nuclear devastation Nevada endured littered with subsidence craters
the military harassed him
had they truly harrassed him he might
have skipped to Canadaplenty of lakes in The Land of 10,000 Lakes Minnesota he wrote letters with a friend in Canada but the anti-war protests where
growing stronger with more and more bodies as more and more young mens bodies
were being return to the States for burial
the fantastic Domino Theory was eroding
he respectfully(thats what he
wrote littering his letter respectfully
respectful) submitted letters declaring
the military provided him no inducement to possibly become wormmeal for an
illegal war precipitated by the questionable Gulf of Tonkin incident reminding themquoting Navy Commander James Stockdale who flew a F8 Crusader above
the destroyers “. . . there was nothing there but black water and American firepower”(lamentable he was sure)
mundane
he understood his experiences were
likely mundane to anyone else
as mundane perhaps as the interaction he had with a young mentally-handicapped man who approached him in Kmart and wished him a good
day You have good day he extended his childlike hand to him
he took his handshook it and
replied Thank you And you have a good
day as well please
You Noyou you have good day
Yes Thank you
Im trying And please you also have a good day
And you you You have good dayYou have good day
he said nothing more and nodded his thanks
the young man moved off he was a bit agitated irritated prior to coming over to him he asked a female
Kmart employee for a blue shirt like the employee wore a casual Polo three buttons at the throat
the employee apologised and told him
that the shirts were meant only for Kmart employees
You did not buy
No The shirts are provided us as part of our
uniformif you will
Did not buy
No We didnt buy them
Gimme shirt I do not buy either
Theyre meant only for employees
the
young man would never be anyones employee
I do not buy gimme shirt too please
he had an unlined untroubled
brow
he was earnest
he was persistent
after several more go-arounds the clerk
suddenly excused herselfher hand to her headset there was no one there she
said Yes Yes Ill be right there she turned to the young man Im sorry I dont
wish to be rude but I have to go
standing off to the side was the
young mans mother or handler she had not
interrupted or interjected
the salesclerk gave her a look as
she passed
it might as well have been a
snowflake fallen on the face of a quiet lake
it melteddisappeared it was of no consequence or impression
she let it be what it was a
simple transaction between two people
a rather beautiful mundane encounter
1129, Monday,
23 10. 17
1122, Day-between-Two-Ts, 25 10.
17
