Daniel Alexander Jones

Excerpt from “Phoenix Fabrik”

ALL
(Sing.)
Mother Dixon comes upon the empty grave of her son, Shaz.
Eleanor hides behind a tree, watching.
Mother Dixon comes upon the empty grave of her son, Shaz.
Eleanor hides behind a tree, watching.
Mother Dixon comes upon the empty grave of her son, Shaz.
Eleanor hides behind a tree, watching.

MOTHER DIXON.
Rippers! First you sap - now you scavenge?! These rippers. Oh! I know their way. Shaz, you was just barely born… yet, back by the factory, red-eyed and hazy, a ripper walked the edge, waiting for his whim. Forced me to the shadows. Barn straw. Cow dung. Warm piss and foul breath. Ripper licked my milk. He took my mouth last. Made me taste myself on him. Listen and hear the truth! Can’t shit, can’t sit, can’t stand for days. I chewed leaves to a paste to patch and mend. Can’t sit, can’t lie. Weeks and weeks. When I felt the swelling I rid that rat from my own belly and buried it in the dirt. The light of the lamb shines through! So it’s not the dead. No. Never the dead. It’s the living and the living and the living. What I know? These rippers, these rust lickers. Gut you alive every time. No mistake, no misgiving. And even come to cull your very bones. Shaz… What I know? You can patch. You can fix. What I make of this? Iron assurance. Sacrifice can be taken as sure as given. We pull white from the river again this night! Let the light of the Lamb pierce the dark and all will rise to meet it! All will rise!!! I say, bring me the ripper and I’ll find the Lamb.

We smooth our palms.

All comes rust in the gutting.

Then rendered. Ashed. Tallow and lye.

Mixed and cooked and poured and cooled. Cakes cut. Boxed clean. Quiet.