62 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 7.17
Down
The
Line
By Arielle Christian
Photos by Mickie Winters
An inside look at
the last butcher
in Butchertown.
Everything exists in a line. Sometimes the line goes
up, sometimes it goes down, sometimes it stays level.
Sometimes two lines exist in parallel: the life you live,
want to live. Sometimes those lines intersect. There are
lines to be waited in. Lines that don't stop moving. Lines
that are drawn and lines that are crossed. Lines like
borders. Lines between languages. Lines that break
and need to be mended. Lines that bend and curve.
Timelines with their changes and constants. Clocks with
lines for hands; digital lines blinking time. Smile lines,
wrinkle lines, fine lines, storylines. Lifelines and life-on-
the-line lines. The line that leads to death.
Then there's the line of 1,200 union workers beside
the 10,500 pigs wheeling down the disassembly line
every day at JBS pork-processing plant, the last butcher
in Butchertown.