The Tattooed Poets Project: Kristin LaTour

Our next tattooed poet is <a href="http://www.kristinlatour.com/">Kristin LaTour</a>, who sent us these photos:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivmGv6miCrn_rH608pctHQS-JAT4tjS9dhKIFhvnnQKt0K49n5G5IOyJVyFEwszKEldovcuBRHhKBE-obmmAVeROjnZFbXSRXBIDCAoUMkvL_s15EeqNMwNTMV0DdD4YK715-RxYsT9N8/s774/2013-01-31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="443" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivmGv6miCrn_rH608pctHQS-JAT4tjS9dhKIFhvnnQKt0K49n5G5IOyJVyFEwszKEldovcuBRHhKBE-obmmAVeROjnZFbXSRXBIDCAoUMkvL_s15EeqNMwNTMV0DdD4YK715-RxYsT9N8/s640/2013-01-31.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />Kristin elaborated on the history of this tattoo:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"I chose this design after thinking about it for a long time. It was my second tattoo, the largest I've had so far, and when I got it, it was the most visible. Because I knew it would be visible, I wanted it to be really special. The flowers are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphaeralcea">globe mallows</a>, a desert flower. I grew up in Tucson and went camping all over the southwest. Mallows are my favorite flower from that area, and they range from orange to fuchsia  The book is for my love of reading and writing, and I wrote the prayer that covers the open pages. My artist, Doc, was so wonderful that he managed to keep my handwriting from the sketch that I brought for him. The feather pen draws from the color of the parakeet on the other side. The parakeet wasn't part of the original plan, but after all the black was done, Doc mentioned that I had asked about including a bird and there was a perfect spot for her. I had a parakeet who was my best friend when I finally moved out on my own and started my adult life. She was with me for almost ten years and is still my little muse. But those branches she perches on now really hurt to have inked in!</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsuQH2V7Lzk-kF8Ly4jfjtSGG5hqs5kek9JI1gMnBnbZqoQUXERmCxqHKUPPJ5yir61eZY3gq60-ktuY93SuTJtoqyoDy_kC0H9Zl9kG_LqOFxpn3MbBJeSl4l4vO4EQ8kJ87VEoN6eQ/s615/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtsuQH2V7Lzk-kF8Ly4jfjtSGG5hqs5kek9JI1gMnBnbZqoQUXERmCxqHKUPPJ5yir61eZY3gq60-ktuY93SuTJtoqyoDy_kC0H9Zl9kG_LqOFxpn3MbBJeSl4l4vO4EQ8kJ87VEoN6eQ/s640/photo.jpg" width="410" /></a></div></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: left;">I had the tattoo done in Joliet, Illinois at <a href="http://www.wolfsfineline.com/">Wolf's Fine Line Tattoo</a>. by <a href="http://www.wolfsfineline.com/docbio.htm">Doc</a>. He's the best."</blockquote><br />The poem Kristin sent us "includes references to the desert where I grew up, and the East coast, where I worked on my MFA and fell in love with the ocean.":<br /><br /><b>She Sinks</b><br /><br />Her arms and legs are buoyant, but her body<br />always sinks. It's her stone heart, you assume,<br />or the memories she encases in cement and<br />buries in her lungs. She exhales gray dust<br />and her cough echoes in corners. It's unfortunate;<br />she lives near the Atlantic, buffeted by waves<br />when she wades up to her narrow waist into the water,<br />the only element that can hold her. Unfortunate<br />she won't come to us in Sonora, become a boulder<br />of granite, sun-warmed, and crying every time it rains.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><br />Kristin LaTour has a chapbook, <u>Agoraphobia</u>, forthcoming from <a href="http://www.dancinggirlpress.com/">Dancing Girl Press</a>, as well as two others: <u>Blood</u> (Naked Mannequin Press, 2009) and <u>Town Limits</u> (Pudding House Press, 2007). Her poetry has appeared in journals such as <a href="http://www.fifthwednesdayjournal.com/">Fifth Wednesday</a>, <a href="http://ciderpressreview.com/">Cider Press Review</a>, <a href="http://www.afterhourspress.com/After%20Hours/Home.html">After Hours</a>, <a href="http://dirtcakes.org/">dirtcakes</a>, <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/">qarrstiluni</a>, and <a href="http://www.adroit.co.nr/">The Adroit Journal</a>. She teaches at <a href="http://www.jjc.edu/Pages/default.aspx">Joliet Jr. College</a> and lives in Aurora, IL with her writer husband and two dogitos. You can find more information at <a href="http://www.kristinlatour.com/">www.kristinlatour.com</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Kristin for her contribution to Tattoosday and the Tattooed Poets Project!<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9407541751861572" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This entry is ©2013 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoos are reprinted with the poet's permission.</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 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: Kristin LaTour

Our next tattooed poet is Kristin LaTour , who sent us these photos: Kristin elaborated on the history of this tattoo: "I chose this de...

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Matthew's Celestial Neck Tattoo

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrf-rJj2kDHmqSZjUZ955PxbqTNGNCCW-Ie2HQhUQjDa0GJn5Cc5LSc36ku9elQ4FG3r9HrhFh4TJy1d7N6l1pZTxyaWHqG6mj_VnIWrZmIy3pWMBtht7x4EXQID91qoHRG2tK_PLz9BrF/s1600-h/100_7559.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5210558742415342242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrf-rJj2kDHmqSZjUZ955PxbqTNGNCCW-Ie2HQhUQjDa0GJn5Cc5LSc36ku9elQ4FG3r9HrhFh4TJy1d7N6l1pZTxyaWHqG6mj_VnIWrZmIy3pWMBtht7x4EXQID91qoHRG2tK_PLz9BrF/s400/100_7559.JPG" style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />To be completely honest, it was Matthew's arm tattoo that I noticed first - the black and grey lotus flower with the word "HAUNTED" inked below it.<br /><br />But, as Fate would have it, Matthew's most meaningful tattoo is the piece on his neck, and there is a compelling story behind it, so that is what we have above.<br /><br />The tattoo was inked in Florida, at a now-defunct shop called Body Language. It is comprised of two elements, the name "Celestia" designed in Matthew's own handwriting. The other piece is the planet, which looks a lot like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn">Saturn</a>. This part of the tattoo was based on a sticker he had found, and the tattooist gave it a water-color look, which is why it appears slightly drained.<br /><br />The story behind the tattoo is even more fascinating. Matthew has a belief system, in which he not only thinks aliens exist, but that they live among us.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitGy2pZfmrN8FNIh2-E1suRfGx-auFIKZ_DwZ8VpxnOiHwqGraujcZ7ymYEmWYlialJNwh5oZOG06qZrPlYCDUoaz7Fd26MJpCE-xOwW4t6qmf9HULCsAMC_4DqSPoW8v79_mdJ2CGlW2_/s1600-h/story.vert.crazy.cover.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5211328658565551442" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitGy2pZfmrN8FNIh2-E1suRfGx-auFIKZ_DwZ8VpxnOiHwqGraujcZ7ymYEmWYlialJNwh5oZOG06qZrPlYCDUoaz7Fd26MJpCE-xOwW4t6qmf9HULCsAMC_4DqSPoW8v79_mdJ2CGlW2_/s400/story.vert.crazy.cover.jpg" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" /></a><br />Matthew is also a huge supporter of the actress <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Heche">Ann Heche</a>. Ann wrote a compelling biography several years back entitled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Call-Me-Crazy-Anne-Heche/dp/0743424417/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1213356860&sr=1-1">Call Me Crazy: A Memoir</a>, in which she publicly discussed her childhood, and the abuse she suffered.<br /><br />Heche relates how she survived the trauma of her childhood by developing, or obtaining, depending on one's perspective, a split personality.<br /><br />Her other self was named "Celestia" and this "alien self" helped her survive the destructive forces in her life.<br /><br />Matthew admires Heche for her being an example of a woman who "could overcome abuse and live a normal lifestyle".<br /><br />He, too, has suffered from abuse and trauma in his life, and he relates to Heche's belief system, and feels that he has survived by the grace of that part of him that's from another world.<br /><br />This is a theme about which he feels very strongly and it manifested itself in this tattoo, which he carries with him and displays in a very visible location. It's not somewhere he can hide it, so he has it a constant reminder of his belief and his reason for survival.<br /><br />Thanks to Matthew for sharing this very personal tattoo with us here at Tattoosday!

Matthew's Celestial Neck Tattoo

To be completely honest, it was Matthew's arm tattoo that I noticed first - the black and grey lotus flower with the word "HAUNTED...

Read more »