The Tattooed Poets Project: Michael Henry Lee

Our next tattooed poet is Michael Henry Lee.<br /><br />We have been fortunate to be able to share Michael's work in two previous years, so this post makes him our first three-time contributor. This is the photo he sent:<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Ciele_gSxCGEnpZBLNLKiQJoxCZI_-FXh9RY5kHeMzwkKRq9_zPC_UxmXE1xwK3iTHEYVGQvTcD1iCPHh2Mc84EXxkd_7H4y3rW5gLktatYRI32YsxPAijJf0F1NS2JYoyEhb5v-omM/s774/Tattooed+Poetry+Pic+2013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0Ciele_gSxCGEnpZBLNLKiQJoxCZI_-FXh9RY5kHeMzwkKRq9_zPC_UxmXE1xwK3iTHEYVGQvTcD1iCPHh2Mc84EXxkd_7H4y3rW5gLktatYRI32YsxPAijJf0F1NS2JYoyEhb5v-omM/s640/Tattooed+Poetry+Pic+2013.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Chris Bodor</td></tr></tbody></table>Michael sent along this explanation of the tattoo:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"...[This] latest addition to a thirty plus year work in progress is in Hebrew and translates: <i>Jehovah Jireh</i> or <i>the Lord sees</i>, also translated, <i>the Lord is my provider</i>. Jehovah Jireh is the first personal name of God that appears in the Torah and the Old Testament. Flames representing God’s first appearance to Moses in a burning bush, and <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+6%3A23&version=NIV">Romans 6:23</a> a key verse from the New Testament ties the whole piece together.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The most compelling element of the story is the artist who has done all Mr. Lee’s work since he moved to Florida nine years ago. Tattoo Mike; sole owner and operator of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tattoo-Garden/123643334358516?fref=ts">The Tattoo Garden</a> in St. Augustine Beach Fl., was involved in a bad motorcycle accident in Sept. 2012 just a few months after completing Michael’s tattoo. As a result of the accident he lost his left leg from the knee down and required resuscitation three separate times that night. He miraculously survived, is back to work and will [have] most likely completed an awesome three piece <i>koi </i>design for Michael Henry Lee about the time this is posted on Tattoosday."</blockquote>Personally, I always look forward to seeing what Michael will send, and this year, he did not disappoint, sending along the following haiku:<br /><br /><b>Leonid showers-</b><br /><b>the sky continues to fall</b><br /><b>on star at a time</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>night fall-</b><br /><b>in my dreams </b><br /><b>there’s still time</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>winter solstice</b><br /><b>snowy egrets</b><br /><b>knee deep in the moon</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>so so moon</b><br /><b>the right moment</b><br /><b>passes between two stones</b><br /><b><br /></b><b>climate change</b><br /><b>another sweater</b><br /><b>goes to good will</b><br /><br /><i>The preceding poems in order of appearance: 1st place in the 2012 <a href="http://www.thehaikufoundation.org/haiku-now-contest/">Haiku Foundation’s Haiku Now Contest </a>in the traditional category, and runner up in the modern category, first appeared in <a href="http://books.mainichi.co.jp/HaikuContest/english.html">The Mainichi Daily News</a>, <a href="http://www.muhaikujournal.com/Mu_Haiku_Journal/Issue_4.html">Mu Haiku Journal IV</a>, and <a href="http://www.wayfarergallery.net/haikunews/">Haiku News</a> respectively.</i><br /><br />Michael lives with his wife Sarah of over thirty years, two cats, and numerous bonsai trees in the nation's oldest city. His work has appeared in <a href="http://theheronsnest.com/">The Heron's Nest</a>, <a href="http://www.hsa-haiku.org/frogpond/index.html">Frogpond</a>, <a href="http://www.wayfarergallery.net/haikunews/">Haiku News</a>, <a href="http://www.iceboxjournal.com/poetry/">Icebox</a>, <a href="http://www.haikubytwo.com/berry-blue-haiku-a-new-online-haiku-magazine-for-kids/">Berry Blue Haiku</a>, <a href="http://www.haikuhut.com/ahg/">One Hundred Gourds</a>, <a href="http://books.mainichi.co.jp/HaikuContest/english.html">Mainichi Daily News</a>, <a href="http://www.joomlacreme.com/about/item/1209-haiku-ramblings.html">Haiku Ramblings</a>, and the anthology, <a href="http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/robert-epstein-editor/dreams-wander-on-contemporary-poems-of-death-awareness/paperback/product-15474373.html">Dreams Wander On: Contemporary Poems of Death Awareness</a> [edited by Robert Epstein] (<a href="http://www.themetpress.com/">Modern English Tanka Press</a>, 2011).<br /><br />Thanks to Michael for his continuing contributions to and support of the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday. You can see his previous entries here: <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2012/04/tattooed-poets-project-michael-henry.html">2012</a> and <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/04/tattooed-poets-project-michael-henry.html">2011</a>.<br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6628686671610922" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"></span></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6628686671610922" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2013 Tattoosday. The poems and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span></span></b></div><b id="internal-source-marker_0.6628686671610922" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit </span><a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></span></b>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Michael Henry Lee

Our next tattooed poet is Michael Henry Lee. We have been fortunate to be able to share Michael's work in two previous years, so this po...

Read more »

The Tattooed Poets Project: Michael Henry Lee

Beginning in the second year of the Tattooed Poets Project, we experienced the thrill of having poets from previous years return to share more ink.<br /><br />This year is no exception, and the first of two repeat contributors is Michael Henry Lee.<br /><br />Last year, he contributed "work inspired by his spiritual convictions, with work spanning three decades by three artists in three very distinct parts of the country."<br /><br />"This year" he informs us, "reveals a more earthy side; with work again spanning three decades by two artists from the heart of America and the sunshine state."<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7bKf-yQkxyo0Mj-5BpaN9dMvu6QG3c0j8_dGylYlrzufvYTyIwmLrN4gW-x_b16KQoY5_YKXEcGFDums7ET8uNE8dDYkknwdN4G3slyGzyAXx2yxpD293LZuunX4p8Te-5ZkyD5iwq54/s1600/mhl+tattoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7bKf-yQkxyo0Mj-5BpaN9dMvu6QG3c0j8_dGylYlrzufvYTyIwmLrN4gW-x_b16KQoY5_YKXEcGFDums7ET8uNE8dDYkknwdN4G3slyGzyAXx2yxpD293LZuunX4p8Te-5ZkyD5iwq54/s640/mhl+tattoo.jpg" width="428" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Photo by Chris Bodor </span></td></tr></tbody></table>Michael Henry Lee explains:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"The piece began with the oh so typical heart and initials by [his] then girlfriend and now wife of over thirty years. Gradually several butterflies, stars, comets, clouds, and lightning were all added by a Kansas City Missouri artist named John. Fast forward to Saint Augustine, Florida, and a great shop called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tattoo-Garden/123643334358516">Tattoo Garden</a>, owned and operated by a super artist Tattoo Mike. He re-colored and revitalized the original piece on [my] last birthday and soon after the kanji for <i>poet </i>and the cherry blossoms were added."</blockquote>Mr. Lee got the kanji to remind him "of the gift he has been given to pursue and ... the cherry blossoms celebrate the beauty and brevity of the life in which he has to pursue it."<br /><br />Mr. Lee provided us with the following poems, which originally appeared in <i><a href="http://www.wayfarergallery.net/haikunews/">Haiku News</a></i> in response to various news stories. They are the sole property of Mr. Lee and may not be used without his explicit permission.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>sobriety checkpoint<br />the nation’s oldest city<br />comes of age<br /><br />buyer’s market-<br />the realtor kept insisting<br />till the bitter end<br /><br />in less time than it took<br />to say we’re sorry<br />you were gone<br /><br />consulting the stars<br />all the laws of probability<br />contained on a pinhead<br /><br />parent teacher day-<br />the class turtle<br />fends for itself<br /><br />mother’s day<br />something inside us<br />can’t let go<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><br />Michael lives in the nation's oldest city with his wife,  two cats ,and numerous bonsai trees. His work has appeared in <i>The Heron's Nest</i>, <i>Icebox</i>. <i>Berry Blue Haiku</i>, <i>The Mainichi Daily News</i>, and <i>Haiku News</i>. His most recent award was a first place in the traditional category and runner up in the contemporary category for the 2012 Haiku Now National Haiku Foundation contest. <br /><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks to Michael Henry Lee for contributing again to the Tattooed Poets Project! Be sure to check out his <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/04/tattooed-poets-project-michael-henry.html">contribution from last year</a>, as well, in case you missed it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poems and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's explicit permission. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.</span></div>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Michael Henry Lee

Beginning in the second year of the Tattooed Poets Project, we experienced the thrill of having poets from previous years return to share mo...

Read more »