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Swallow: (First Corinthians)

2023; The MIT Press; Volume: 45; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1162/pajj_a_00670

1537-9477

Erik Ehn,

Biblical Studies and Interpretation

Swallow is one of sixteen plays on the life of St. Paul and his letters. The central subject is the heart cracked open, overflowing with love and wanting love to make its way through the world in practical terms, materially known.How does one walk the walk of love—living up to social ideals and deep longings? Roundtables and conversations open out consideration of the practical place of love in activism: its efficacy, subtlety, and misappropriations.The title of the series overall is Nauageo, a Greek word that appears twice in the Bible, once in connection with St. Paul: “to be shipwrecked.” The project accepts Paul as a challenging conversational partner; the play series argues with him, flees from him, flees with him … makes wrecked language; is wrecked with him.The plays focus on youth (too little experience) and old age (too much experience: questions of forgiveness, integrity of memory, store of energy). They spring from my experiences engaging with those affected by economic warfare, addiction, and genocidal violence, nationally and internationally. The writing pairs with a long-time searching-through of contemplative pedagogy: the uses of silence, witness, gratitude and patience in the creative process. The setting is global and contemporary, in passion with the friable nature of social systems challenged by the manufacture of exiles and refugees, by totalitarian persecutions, and by erosions in a baseline of trust.The Nauageo series includes Version (Acts of the Apostles), Against Usefulness (Philemon), Chagall (Philippians), Clay (2 Corinthians), Double Double (2 Thessalonians), Flexible Flier (2 Timothy), Gnome (Galatians), Jimmie Rogers (1 Thessalonians), Nightjar (Titus), Sleeper (Ephesians), Real Widow (1 Timothy), Salt Angel (Colossians), Swallow (1 Corinthians), The Weak and the Strong (Romans and Hebrews), The Wreck (Acts), and Transmissions (Acts).■A.(A skinny boy trains as a boxer; his mother crosses a wide wet field before sunrise; his father is a shadow in a bad white room.)SWALLOWYoung boyShadowbox the morning no electric, no shadowHeartbeat hits the ground, plums dropped from an airplaneFlyweightYoungA shadow moves against him (The father-shadow moves, but not toward the boy.)BOYYou can’t… (Pause.)SWALLOWTalks to himself, whisper rubs up static, electricity leaves lips (The boy trains again; his whisper is a torn cable, electric lash. Shadow stutters in the boy’s space. The father fishes in moonlight, shadow in shadow for shadow.)Fish stir in murk moon4 a.m. his mother crosses the tall wet grass to the small brick house whereMOTHER (To fellow morning-shift worker.)I make donuts drop and fry like hearts from high, plum-sized balls of dough. BirdBOYSwallowWORKERSwallowSWALLOWBoxFATHERHold—MOTHER (The process of doughnut making.)Wait. Drop. HookSWALLOW (Re: fishing, boxing.)Wait. Drop hook (Boy goes silent and sunlight takes his space; no more shadow.)Post pole; move again (The father wedges the pole between rocks and crosses to his son.)SWALLOWCoffee in her, works her face, the heat of the fryer spreads mycelial, small veins of her cheeks. Chop dough. Lift, drop, fry, powder. Never eat, need each sale—Shadow blankets boy (Father-shadow reaches to swamp his son. The boy passes through the shadow without seeing it. He towels off and dresses.)BOYSchoolSWALLOW… with her whole heartMOTHERDo not bury me—SWALLOWCalled to be saintsTo deliver—the low black iron station wagonBOY (Re: Mother.)Always a fear of—SWALLOWYou are God’s field, God’s buildingBOYFear of this fieldSWALLOWHer ex uses the wagon sometimes to teach drivers’ ed, though he is on suspended license; car’s not there when she goes for it, needy. Doughnuts undelivered, white boxes, boxes stain through. Tell me what you want to doMOTHERDo not bury me in this cold, cold groundB.(The father teaches drivers’ ed in the big black station wagon. The boy walks across a wide parking lot, carrying a gym bag—he’s on his way to a bout, after school. Mother with a greasy paper sack walks to the heart of a forest.)SWALLOWWhile his father—FATHER (To student.)Ease up on the clutchSWALLOWTeaches drivers ed in the car, stolen from his wife—MOTHERHeals in the hospitalSWALLOWThe car she uses to deliver —FATHEREase up on the clutchBOYI—MOTHER (Completing Swallow’s last line.)DoughnutsFATHEREase up on the clutchBOYWill destroy the wisdom of the wiseSWALLOWHe walks to his boutFATHEREase up on the clutchSWALLOWStrip, flyweight. Take, late, call from police (Not yet. He’s walking to the ring.)MOTHERWhile his father healsSWALLOWMother feeds donuts to the feral catsWipes. Makes promises to her retailers by the black big rotary phoneFATHER (Impatient with his student, he grabs wheel, pulls up balky clutch by hand.)I’ll show you howBOYBut we have the mind of ChristSWALLOWOiled, ready, in his corner, facing inFERAL CATWe are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day.SWALLOWTotals the carCORNER MANGo (Mother sets sack of day-olds at the foot of fractured father.)C.(Father in a car crash. Mother diminishes. Boy makes soup on a twig-fire.Shadows.)SWALLOWMotherBankruptLives off flourSon feeds her soup of white flourFly and thinnerPatientKindDrunk while teacherWalk, boxThin white flourFlirts, nurseThe bricks she rented, boarded, lease lostAcross tall wet grass in the summer when dead night and burnt day meet at mourning’s seamMOTHERSwallows make minds in the airSWALLOWDollars for his—MOTHEREven as I have been fully knownSWALLOW…to trainFATHERFew extra—COPGet out of the carFATHER… dollars drivingCOPGet out of the car. You’re all rightMOTHERLove never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an endSWALLOWSuddenly breathing, a runner. When in stillness—COPAll rightMOTHERNow I know only in partFATHERThere was enoughD.(All three fly.)SWALLOWHeRunningTrainingThinSuddenlyInThick, a boutWinsButNoMoney-prize (Father lies down, feet at the doughnut bag.)Walk home, gym bag, late. Day pestles to powder the night’s hard nutMOTHEROm of sparrows whorls to a mindBOYLove is patient, love is kindMOTHERDo not bury me in this cold, cold ground (Father leaves the hospital.)BOYI—SWALLOWThey grow thin, he’s young, he winsNo money-prize (Mother tears open the sack and eats the day-olds.)BOYDo not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air—SWALLOWFather heals, thrives, healed and sober, an Oakland awayBOY (Dips tobacco, chews and spits.)But I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualifiedSWALLOWShe—FATHERIs—swallowsE.(Swallows, crows, sparrows.)MOTHERSwallows, crows, sparrowsSWALLOWHeBOYISWALLOWBreaksBOYBreakMOTHERListen! I will tell you a mysteryFATHERBeats the doorSWALLOWBreaks into the old donut bakeryBehind the mother’s house across the empty allotmentTakesMOTHERWe will not all dieSWALLOWHickoryWraps his mother in white paperMOTHERBut we will all be changedFATHERA roll from the table where they examine boxers after bouts, lays outSWALLOWWhite paperFATHERWraps; wet to make the paper flex, then driedMOTHERIn a momentSWALLOWAnd lays herMOTHERIn the twinkling of an eyeBOYLay her in the brick ovenFATHERBread ovenMOTHERAt the last trumpetSWALLOWWith new heat. And hot for longFATHERCracks frameSWALLOWBurns mother to ashBOYAnd not in the fieldMOTHERCome to a sober and right mind, and sin no moreSWALLOWIn the road where they are diggingBOYAnd lots of white claySWALLOWHealing clayMOTHERLet all that you do—FATHERThe road to the cityMOTHERBe done in loveFATHER + BOYAnd on and onMOTHERGreet—BOYA-scatterMOTHEROne another—BOYStar differs from star in gloryFATHERAshMOTHER + BOYWith a holy kissFATHERSparrow bathBOYSwallow, sparrow, crowFATHERBirds bring dust up into their feathersBOYDaySWALLOWRun by and later and—BOYThe birds —SWALLOW + BOY + MOTHERUpSWALLOW (Sings. Song through “O death, where is your sting?”)Death has been swallowed up in victory.SPARROWWhere, O death, is your victory?CROWWhere, O death, is your sting?SWALLOW + SPARROW + CROWO death, where is your sting?BOYThe last enemy to be destroyed is deathMOTHERCome to a sober and right mind, and sin no moreSWALLOWKeep alert, stand firm in faith, be courageous, be strong. Let—MOTHER + FATHER + SONAll that you do be done in loveSWALLOWGreet one another with a holy kissThe End