a huge man
more like a football linebacker
than a highschool teacher
even w/the nerd bowl-cut
pens in shirt chest pocket
he taught world history
like I expected it to be—
and how I guess it’s still taught—
outline on the board
lectures
tests based on ability
to memorize facts + dates
but he made class interesting
w/stories—
like his vivid telling of
the Battle of Thermopylae
long before that graphic novel or movie
using his body to demonstrate
how the spartans held
twohanded swords in each hand
and stacked the dead bodies
of the persians
along the narrow pass walls—
we could see the spartans:
they looked like Mr. Brown
sometimes before classes started
he would tell us about his personal life
he lived in a round house
the foundation for which
he dug himself
w/a shovel
he subscribed to Pravda
a russian newspaper in english
my first exposure
to the idea that other countries
might have other narratives
other truths
I did not do so well
first semester
never been a good memorizer
but second semester
I got As
best in the class
figured out which facts
he was looking for
or could have been entirely
from changing from first period
when I was still half-asleep
to fourth
but he was proud of me
in a world where no one was
Mr. Brown remained legendary
among my friends
as we became adults
w/sentences always beginning remember when—
remember when Mr. Brown picked up
Jeremy + his desk + carried him into the hall?
remember when Mr. Brown broke up that fight
in the hall
by lifting both boys up by their shirts?
never occurred to me that Mr. Brown
could drink alcohol
much less be an alcoholic
until decades later
we found out that he/d
gotten so drunk
he drove the wrong way on Highway 127
head-on into a car
killing a whole family
news article quoting him as saying
that he accepted going to prison
that he had broken the law
needed to pay his debt
to society
I recently found out
that Mr. Brown died
in prison
apparently or supposedly
from complications from a
respiratory virus
or that/s the offical narrative—
thats what he taught me
(tho not sure he wanted to)
that narratives are more interesting
than facts
losers dont write the histories
maybe they shouldnt
tho sometimes
like the spartans at Thermopylae
they are remembered
even as
one fact
can change the narrative
+ heroes
arent
even if we still
kind of want them to be
Born in Puerto Rico, John Yohe has worked as a wildland firefighter, wilderness ranger and fire lookout. Best of the Net nominee x2. Notable Essay List for Best American Essays 2021, 2022 and 2023. @thejohnyohe www.johnyohe.weebly.com
High Horse 