The Tattooed Poets Project: Kimberly Escamilla

We here at Tattoosday had already decided to continue the Tattooed Poets Project in the "off" months (that is, from May through March, when it was <i>not </i>National Poetry Month), when I received a message from Kimberly Escamilla asking what had happened to the contribution she had submitted back in January.<br /><br />I slapped palm to forehead when I realized, I had lost someone in the shuffle. The continuation of the Tattooed Poets Project was a perfect chance for redemption.<br /><br />Kimberly is no stranger to Tattoosday, having participated in the Tattooed Poets Project back in 2011 (<a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/04/tattooed-poets-project-kimberly-mahler.html">here</a>), when she had a different last name. She was kind enough to reach out to me to share again and, also, kind enough to forgive me for overlooking her contribution. So, without further delay, here is the photo she sent along:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmu8mg_DNSAmnCnWw7Mgnjr63OCsDzoVzXNDJBz3hc30E7woEgEfUGKYGLIOECwUR3SBV8-tNyWv5wNDpBHCjtKqGU4y_Fjlr_6AZFRcT1T8XTEp0drGievNs_RrWWsL52jDfkdXsfnc/s572-no/Kim+new.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZmu8mg_DNSAmnCnWw7Mgnjr63OCsDzoVzXNDJBz3hc30E7woEgEfUGKYGLIOECwUR3SBV8-tNyWv5wNDpBHCjtKqGU4y_Fjlr_6AZFRcT1T8XTEp0drGievNs_RrWWsL52jDfkdXsfnc/s572-no/Kim+new.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />She noted that this tattoo was "not full of fun colors" like her others, but that it was "way more meaningful" to her. She elaborated:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"We lost our daughter Sophia to<a href="http://www.trisomy18.org/site/PageServer?pagename=whatisT18_whatis"> Trisomy 18</a>. We chose to induce as the disease is most often fatal in the first few months of life. I wrote an article about it <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kimberly-cates-escamilla/war-on-women_b_1415391.html">here</a> at the Huffington Post. We decided to get tattoos to honor her, and we learned that Mary Joy is open to using the remains of a loved one in the ink. Since Sophia is a Greek name, we decided to have the whole thing done in ancient Greek lettering--It's just her first name and the date we induced April 4, 2012. Mary Joy was able to do the tattoo on August 11, 2012, the day before Sophia was supposed to be born."</blockquote>I do recommend clicking through on Kimberly's link to the Huffington Post article in the paragraph above. It is a brave and wrenching account of losing a child.<br /><br />The artist Mary Joy, who is referenced above, is Mary Joy Scott, who works out of <a href="http://www.tattoocitysf.com/">Ed Hardy's Tattoo City</a> in San Francisco.<br /><br />Kimberly sent us the accompanying poem, as well:<br /><br /><b>Wisdom at Sweeties</b><br /><br />The neighborhood bar in North Beach is barren<br />except for one clutch of retired Italians whose late <br />lunch has blurred into an evening of beer and gossip.<br /><br />I know what my husband is going to order before we claim our stools,<br />before we leave the tattoo shop and walk the three blocks,<br />before Mary Joy unties the baggie of our daughter’s ashes,<br />lowers her head and needle, thanking us for trusting her hand <br />and the ink that would bond Sophia to both of us for life. <br /><br />Shots of Ouzo, tinged blue, like the inside of ice<br />are poured neat from a dusty bottle. <br />The bartender-mother asks why—are you Greek? <br />We show her our saran-wrapped wrists,<br />the Hellenic epitaph, knocking-back the first round.<br /><br />As we savor the sweet anise’s burn, I think of the monks <br />at Mount Athos who could never have predicted<br />their pet-project some 700 years later would treat<br />sour stomachs and jack-knifed hearts around the globe. <br /><br />The bartender-mother and eavesdropping Italians listen to our saga.<br />Rapt and teary, they raise their glasses to the purity of grief, <br />the kind of grief that a tattoo and Ouzo can only begin to admit. <br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><br />Kimberly Escamilla’s recent work has appeared or forthcoming in <a href="http://www.deanza.edu/redwheelbarrow/">Red Wheelbarrow</a>, <a href="http://www.iun.edu/~nwadmin/plath/">Plath Profiles</a>, <a href="http://www.5ampoetry.com/">5AM</a>, <a href="http://www.dmqreview.com/">DMQ Review</a>, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1604861096/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1604861096&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EMy%20Baby%20Rides%20the%20Short%20Bus:%20The%20Unabashedly%20Human%20Experience%20of%20Raising%20Kids%20with%20Disabilities%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1604861096%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20!important;%20margin:0px%20!important;%22%20/%3E">My Baby Rides the Short Bus</a> anthology, <a href="http://naugatuckriverreview.com/">Naugatuck River Review</a>, and <a href="http://cimarronreview.com/">Cimarron Review</a>. She has taught college-level writing and literature in the San Francisco Bay Area for 19 years and is the director of <a href="http://www.iplsf.org/">The International Poetry Library of San Francisco</a>. She lives on the coast, a few miles north of Half Moon Bay, CA with her husband Michael and son Harrison.<br /><br />We thank Kimberly for sharing these powerful tattoos and poem with us here on The Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday.<br /><br /><b id="docs-internal-guid-37263786-9dcf-1004-be87-0e06600bb545" style="font-weight: normal;"></b><br /><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-37263786-9dcf-1004-be87-0e06600bb545" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2013 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span></span></b></div><b id="docs-internal-guid-37263786-9dcf-1004-be87-0e06600bb545" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><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/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; text-decoration: underline; 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></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div></b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Kimberly Escamilla

We here at Tattoosday had already decided to continue the Tattooed Poets Project in the "off" months (that is, from May through Ma...

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