Colorado Poet Robert Cooperman ~ “John Sprockett and the No Longer Useful Guides”
John Sprockett and the No Longer Useful
Guides to Lawrence, Kansas, August, 1863
By Colorado Poet Robert Cooperman
Narration By Roger Netzer
That first time I was ordered
by Captain Quantrill to shoot
an Abolitionist we’d kidnapped,
leave him in the buffalo grass, I couldn’t,
even with my reputation for rage:
him with a wife and daughter.
Besides he sat stoic as the Baptist
about to lose his holy head
when we shoved him onto the lead wagon
loaded with provisions we’d taken
from his dry goods store, and told him
to guide us: knowing what would happen
when he grew unsure of the route.
But like I said, he went quiet as a spy
caught behind enemy lines, so’s I couldn’t
back-shoot him, let alone full in his face,
that unlike mine, wasn’t grizzly-ripped.
Instead, when I marched him into
the peaceful, waving grass, I knocked
him down, blasted into the blue sky,
and told him if he wanted his health,
to lie still for a good ten minutes.
But the next time, Captain sent
Ben Sanders with me. Afterwards,
he kicked the corpse like a tin can
and unbuttoned his trousers, to piss on
“The no-good, slave-loving sumbitch.”
“Don’t,” I said soft as windless snow.
Sanders backed away, told the Captain
the job was done, ‘cept the shot’ll
echo in my head ‘til the day I die.
But the third time, I didn’t hesitate.