Two Chickens for Tattoosday

I met Amy back in June while walking in Penn Station. She has a lot of tattoos, and offered up these chickens:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWcPt7b6PYaNVjOfCFkqLSuN4bBV4PIg5EHDc8tPND_QkyffvArRKsgEoONzB1auDXX7JewCuYAQCcnNwd4scqZPcZYI9BMFQxkWFo30AZNrrfhLqI41rAHB5SBBJqlg6AtStmqy63-8/s614/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWcPt7b6PYaNVjOfCFkqLSuN4bBV4PIg5EHDc8tPND_QkyffvArRKsgEoONzB1auDXX7JewCuYAQCcnNwd4scqZPcZYI9BMFQxkWFo30AZNrrfhLqI41rAHB5SBBJqlg6AtStmqy63-8/s640/photo.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><br />Amy told me that she got these from Joanne Martin at the <a href="http://thejademermaid.com/">Jade Mermaid Tattoo Parlor</a> in Portland, Oregon. She and a friend were supposed to get the same tattoo. Amy elaborated:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"She [Joanne Martin] was offering the deal that, if [two people] got the same tattoo, it'd be one price for both of them and we [Amy and her friend] decided to get the chickens because we had both sort of raised them. But he 'chickened' out at the last minute ... and I got it anyway. A lot of people seem to like it, especially in Costa Rica. They dug it there."</blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>When I asked if the chickens had names, she confirmed that "one's Esther and one is Henrietta. Pun intended." She concluded, "Everyone has to have one hen named Henrietta."<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDLWx7DLS9lvzwuRcJtzKKlr4rzAp6y77waLcWwyPjHfN4h2KOtwe9P88IMTShDv_YWwYXaFIY1R7MDGjmYL6pkhNyM6oF-gvCFefWyAShHDf5EyF_YBy7QiDniBTz3wv-V8tJzDL5E0/s678/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkDLWx7DLS9lvzwuRcJtzKKlr4rzAp6y77waLcWwyPjHfN4h2KOtwe9P88IMTShDv_YWwYXaFIY1R7MDGjmYL6pkhNyM6oF-gvCFefWyAShHDf5EyF_YBy7QiDniBTz3wv-V8tJzDL5E0/s320/photo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg2gWtNpdH3DaeUFY6RyzjChdRN4OemEXaQVQxF_ewc9Iwx4bntp1FKlktto5il4AgvErGqn0Sxc5EafRwRxmgCn1AHfbxF0fuWXVJ-sq_PQhyJbTu9NiQiAiDYCbo-EpVawgdFwlV0dM/s615/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg2gWtNpdH3DaeUFY6RyzjChdRN4OemEXaQVQxF_ewc9Iwx4bntp1FKlktto5il4AgvErGqn0Sxc5EafRwRxmgCn1AHfbxF0fuWXVJ-sq_PQhyJbTu9NiQiAiDYCbo-EpVawgdFwlV0dM/s320/photo.jpg" width="236" /></a></div><br />Thanks to Amy for sharing her chickens with us on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><b id="internal-source-marker_0.8588792171794921" 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 ©2012 Tattoosday.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you are seeing this on another website 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: black; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: initial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><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>

Two Chickens for Tattoosday

I met Amy back in June while walking in Penn Station. She has a lot of tattoos, and offered up these chickens: Amy told me that she got thes...

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The Tattooed Poets Project: Alex Dryden

Today's tattooed poet, Alex Dryden, shared his body art with us, displaying what to many poets, and fans of poetry, is a universal image:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhirxpD5AaYjZi4KdCkSjQzGJPeBxR_8q8_8TSli7aQSu-Pm-M7CX3XPus6QCVsNYb36_wXOHiU9I22a1g-yW2lxLhh8DLaJEwDHI8UAEKz7BBUiemOSE8TdekN-HmelmFak20zftgEFd4/s1600/red+wheelbarrow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhirxpD5AaYjZi4KdCkSjQzGJPeBxR_8q8_8TSli7aQSu-Pm-M7CX3XPus6QCVsNYb36_wXOHiU9I22a1g-yW2lxLhh8DLaJEwDHI8UAEKz7BBUiemOSE8TdekN-HmelmFak20zftgEFd4/s640/red+wheelbarrow.jpg" width="494" /></a></div><br />That is, of course, a red wheelbarrow, a common item made famous by <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/119">William Carlos Williams</a>' iconic poem:<br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Wheelbarrow">The Red Wheelbarrow</a><br /><br /><i>so much depends </i><br /><i>upon </i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>a red wheel </i><br /><i>barrow </i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>glazed with rain </i><br /><i>water </i><br /><i><br /></i><br /><i>beside the white </i><br /><i>chickens. </i><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div>Alex elaborates:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"When we were kids, my mother made my brother and me memorize and recite poems. Though we didn't talk about it until we were adults, we were both stricken by the authority and presence of 'The Red Wheelbarrow.' </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">For years we had thought about getting tattoos that worked together as a set but had never found a suitable subject. In 2010, he went back to school as English major while I was entering the first year of my MFA in creative writing. While visiting over the winter break and planning our mother's 60th birthday party, talk came around to the poems we memorized a kids and renewed our efforts to find a good set of tattoos. 'The Red Wheelbarrow,' with two perfect, ready made images, solved our dilemma. That night we drew up a pair of white chickens for him and a red wheelbarrow for me and the next day had them done. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Because Williams made use of the rhythm and diction of the American vernacular, we choose a local tattoo parlor that seemed analogous. The website for <a href="http://hellbombtattoo.blogspot.com/">Hell Bomb Tattoo</a>, in Wichita, KS, displayed an index of, what we imagined to be, classic Mid-Western tattoo art." </blockquote>I asked Alex if he could send along his brother’s tattoo, as well, and he happily obliged:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOH0g_r8Jo6nZ70qvWZsd156_3w2IGdNZIdv1lVSe5rfzNo11zeNTgKpPffWz3GNemxvBVpDDad4nhhEvOQA1PxtbAMK9ZOgKaAQBCV32A4RDHYT7ZCy_BWvxpjkEJY5FPsfDI4Vyaxw/s1600/white+chickens.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaOH0g_r8Jo6nZ70qvWZsd156_3w2IGdNZIdv1lVSe5rfzNo11zeNTgKpPffWz3GNemxvBVpDDad4nhhEvOQA1PxtbAMK9ZOgKaAQBCV32A4RDHYT7ZCy_BWvxpjkEJY5FPsfDI4Vyaxw/s400/white+chickens.jpg" width="340" /></a></div><br />And a shot of them together: <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMZ3Q_NUZzNJO5B7_urU02CK26BK7i9PU8BFFchV4r3iJcO__JAucONT1BrgSyzZHD4Ul2imkSewCT-EZv5gCJW6RkCa99Maoz5IST92GL0CcwnLDKI7GueBd7i7H90H3TPrUhcKgrwk/s1600/dryden+both.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeMZ3Q_NUZzNJO5B7_urU02CK26BK7i9PU8BFFchV4r3iJcO__JAucONT1BrgSyzZHD4Ul2imkSewCT-EZv5gCJW6RkCa99Maoz5IST92GL0CcwnLDKI7GueBd7i7H90H3TPrUhcKgrwk/s400/dryden+both.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />As for verse, Alex shared this poem:<br /><br /><i>Corpus </i><br /><br />—she was the kind of girl<br />you suspected<br /><br />had something really sweet<br />written in<br /><br />the braille of her<br />bikini line.<br /><br />Something about flowers or<br />the uselessness<br /><br />of melancholy and how good<br />things happen<br /><br />to those who wait politely and say please. So,<br />I checked.<br /><br />“Thanks,” it said. It was damp and difficult<br />to read.<br /><br /> “I haven’t been fucked like that since I was an<br />alter boy.<br /><br />Thanks.”  It was the second “thanks” that really<br />threw me.<br /><br />When she woke, she smiled politely<br />I made<br /><br />coffee politely and made my face look<br />sensible and clean.<br /><br />I haven’t checked since. I don’t even read her e-<br />mail anymore.<br /><br />Once, I held the door open for her mother, she said<br />thank you<br /><br />and I stammered “sorry” pretty loud. It was really the second “thanks”<br />that threw me.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><br />Alex Dryden is a MFA candidate in Poetry at <a href="http://www.newschool.edu/">The New School</a>. His work was most recently published on <a href="http://blog.bestamericanpoetry.com/the_best_american_poetry/2012/02/dear-by-alex-dryden.html">The Best American Poetry blog</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Alex for this contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission. </span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><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>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Alex Dryden

Today's tattooed poet, Alex Dryden, shared his body art with us, displaying what to many poets, and fans of poetry, is a universal image...

Read more »

Kristina's Rooster Crows in Honor of Her Son

It was funny, now that you think of it, the way everything came full circle.<br /><br />I was picking my younger daughter, Shayna, up from camp, when I spotted a woman approaching from the opposite direction.<br /><br />It was after six, on a weekday, and she had a small boy in tow, wearing a t-shirt indicating that he was in the same camp, albeit a younger group, as my child.<br /><br />She was displaying an amazing rooster tattoo, covering her upper left arm.<br /><br />Initially, Kristina seemed hesitant to let me take a photo, but as we talked, she changed her mind, and let me snap away.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiao4GCGmovBEhDqPMbBvuoWNytzH1BbWWHoj1QJFHsujW1v46YYTPTWXfeOSdt-md7tGw22cInnO98_oicmG83PmKvLHbSJZVYRzBux6_t6QWfCwo0Mlb1h5rhL6SQBAFCsQjNIK2p/s1600/Rooster+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiao4GCGmovBEhDqPMbBvuoWNytzH1BbWWHoj1QJFHsujW1v46YYTPTWXfeOSdt-md7tGw22cInnO98_oicmG83PmKvLHbSJZVYRzBux6_t6QWfCwo0Mlb1h5rhL6SQBAFCsQjNIK2p/s400/Rooster+collage.jpg" width="315" /></a></div><br />This was inked by the incomparable <a href="http://virginiaelwoodtattoo.com/">Virginia Elwood</a>, who does incredible work, especially with bird tattoos. Work from Virginia, at <a href="http://www.nyadorned.com/#bg=h">New York Adorned</a>, has appeared previously <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/03/stevies-tattoo-calms-and-inspires.html">here</a> on Tattoosday.<br /><br />In all fairness, the right side of the tattoo is compromised in the photo above by the sun (and the bane of a borrowed camera), so the best view is the front part of the rooster: <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVmh4qJJBapWt4PekZJuHiBaNCSCwoTwky7NIayuNLKiu8KvdWnhSzdr4MUEVHioCJE6YV5la02SiryTSO6_fBTeXtek3r6tlRzBVH6wsYE2jKR-I2-var4Uoc3lZ3gdDAxvSKh70/s1600/rooster+left.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYVmh4qJJBapWt4PekZJuHiBaNCSCwoTwky7NIayuNLKiu8KvdWnhSzdr4MUEVHioCJE6YV5la02SiryTSO6_fBTeXtek3r6tlRzBVH6wsYE2jKR-I2-var4Uoc3lZ3gdDAxvSKh70/s640/rooster+left.jpg" width="252" /></a></div><br />Kristina explained that she chose the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_of_the_rooster">Rooster</a> because that was the year in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac">Chinese Zodiac</a> in which her son was born. It certainly is a wonderful way to commemorate her child.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXlDgRMmDTQVWwR8srOOJ3jwk88LuyCwnRf6NDaEcyS3t-g9_hCexcVg3FScayDxxrfcfcwtE-4Lm8dyEwIFWZWUSWlTblO1PYvwOxBuUfVCmGsLzG3W20NuS3TcXTjF1-si6xgBb/s1600/rooster+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXlDgRMmDTQVWwR8srOOJ3jwk88LuyCwnRf6NDaEcyS3t-g9_hCexcVg3FScayDxxrfcfcwtE-4Lm8dyEwIFWZWUSWlTblO1PYvwOxBuUfVCmGsLzG3W20NuS3TcXTjF1-si6xgBb/s640/rooster+detail.jpg" width="278" /></a></div><br />Almost as an afterthought, Kristina mentioned that a couple years back, on a subway platform, someone had asked her if he could take a picture of her tattoo, still in progress, for his blog, but she politely declined.<br /><br />I thought about it for about a second when I smiled and exclaimed "That was me!"<br /><br />In three years, I've approached a lot of people about their tattoos, and they all blur together.<br /><br />But I still recall the disappointment I felt at 34th Street, when the woman with the unfinished rooster tattoo from Adorned politely declined my request.<br /><br />Lucky me, time solved that missed opportunity, and I got to see the finished product, in the bright afternoon soon, years after I had asked.<br /><br />And it was certainly worth the wait.<br /><br />Thanks kindly to Kristina for sharing her incredible rooster tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Kristina's Rooster Crows in Honor of Her Son

It was funny, now that you think of it, the way everything came full circle. I was picking my younger daughter, Shayna, up from camp, when I...

Read more »