lessons (21)

Some rivers crossed

wash off the past,

and some lead you

back to it.

A man stands

next to the car, peering in.

He’s dark as old wood,

in a snap button shirt and jeans,

a sweat-stained broad brim hat,

big brass belt buckle

with a grizzly bear rendered

in bold bas relief.

The obsidian eyes

seem to stare.

The man looks down

at the belt buckle.

-He doesn’t bite.

is this your car?

Looks pretty fast.

It is. Fast enough.

You know where you are?

Yeah, Kern River. Why?

This is where they died.

Where who died?

My family. The soldiers

killed them here.

Henry and Ruthie

look at the road.

The sycamores. Rocks

and willows. a beer bottle

and some scraps of paper.

caught in the sagebrush.

Almost a hundred years ago.

Here? I never heard of that.

No. Few people remember.

They don’t want to.

What happened?

They were camped here.

Captain Moses McLaughlin

and the 2nd California Cavalry

rode up from Visalia and

surrounded the camp at dawn.

They picked out 35 men

and shot them. Finished

them off with their sabres.

The others, women and children

a few men, they sent down

to the Sebastian Reservation.

There was no one left here

on our land except the miners

and ranchers and their cattle.

Why did they kill them?

It was a war. Here and over

in Owens Valley. The cattle

and sheep ate everything,

there was no game.

So we fought back. Raids.

Killed their livestock and a few

of them when we could. McLaughlin

decided to administer a lesson.

Henry says, way too many chapters

in that book, it’s never finished.

The man looks up at the sky,

says, what are you doing here?

We went down to the river. to cool off.

Is this a place we shouldn’t be?

Because of what happened here?

No. Enjoy the river. That’s what it’s for.

I just thought you should know.

Yeah. Thank you. Some stories

need to be told. Ruthie knows, slips

her hand into Henry’s. he knows too.

The man looks at them standing

hand to hand like a pair of paper dolls.

Touches the brim of his hat

and says I’m Henry Aguaverde.

Henry Nalbandian says well,

I’m Henry too. This is Ruthie.

Old Henry takes each of their hands in his,

smooth and dry as river driftwood.

Some folks call me Green.

Where are you going now?

Farther up the road. I want to

show something else to Ruthie.

There isn’t another massacre

site site up there is there?

No. This was the place. What

are you going to show her?

It’s a surprise, something special.

I think I know what it is. Good idea.

Yeah. It is. Well we should probably

get going now. Maybe we’ll see you again.

Green smiles. I’m sure you will. 

I will look forward to that. Then you

can tell me your stories. Two people

like you together must have a very

interesting story. He walks into

the willows...disappears like the doe.