The Tattooed Poets Project: Kazim Ali

Our next tattooed poet is <a href="http://www.kazimali.com/">Kazim Ali</a>.<br /><br />When I reached out to Kazim at the beginning of the year, he commended me on the "prescience" of my inquiry, stating "I am as yet unwritten upon but am planning said writing in the next week or two...".<br /><br />So, when Kazim sent us this photo, the ink was still fresh:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztgxQ9emw0kpke-hxf0LYouMTaq6PIM2rRQeoKrOZ3Ar21u5ZqPFsR3JNnKA-OE5iPkpIzR0vixqX5uO1UT5xbKj0kRMQ3Wz2LqZKd2VE6RIHfupV3TAjbLZLL-gS-wYxu4JJu2Xdxb8/s572/photo+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiztgxQ9emw0kpke-hxf0LYouMTaq6PIM2rRQeoKrOZ3Ar21u5ZqPFsR3JNnKA-OE5iPkpIzR0vixqX5uO1UT5xbKj0kRMQ3Wz2LqZKd2VE6RIHfupV3TAjbLZLL-gS-wYxu4JJu2Xdxb8/s640/photo+(2).JPG" width="450" /></a></div><br />It's a great shot and when I first saw it, I was interested to hear what these lines of text were all about. Kazim didn't disappoint with this history:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"I have practiced yoga since 1999, never feeling more than a strict beginning, knowing less and less about yoga with every passing year. With poetry it feels the same. Though raised with traditional Muslim values, I struck out on my own to try to figure out God after encountering the work of <a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/fanny-howe">Fanny Howe</a>. From 2009-2011 I worked on my own book about yoga and Islam, called <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1932195947/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1932195947&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EFasting%20for%20Ramadan:%20Notes%20from%20a%20Spiritual%20Practice%20(Tupelo%20Press%20Lineage%20Series)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1932195947%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">Fasting for Ramadan</a>. While working on that book I came across and began translating the work of 20th century Iranian poet <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sohrab_Sepehri">Sohrab Sepehri</a>. One of his lines that resonates for me the most talked about the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qibla">qibla</a>, the direction of Muslim prayer--the direction toward which one must turn to face Mecca.<br /><br />Sepehri's line (in translation) is roughly: <i>I am a Muslim. My qibla is toward one single bloom of a rose.</i></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Needless to say, my yoga practice taught me to always strive, to always try to know, that living (with or without a spiritual practice) is that exactly, a 'practice,' meaning 'process.' To write on the body is not permanent at all because the body is not permanent. To inscribe is to strive. The Farsi script runs right to left and the Sanksrit runs left to right. Each attempt at knowing oneself starts in the world, with others, in community, something I learn from both Islam and from Yoga.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I wrote on my left forearm: <i>Man musulmanam. Qiblam yek ghul-surg.</i></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">I wrote on my right forearm the first line of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga_Sutras">Yoga Sutras</a>: <i>Atha Yoganusanam</i>. [in translation: <i>Now (here, at this very moment in this very place) begin the teaching of yoga.</i>]"</blockquote>Kazim described how he came to know his tattoo artist:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"I met <a href="http://sammcwilliams.com/">Sam McWilliams</a> through my friend, Genine, also a poet. I wanted someone to write these sacred scriptures onto my skin and I wanted someone who would understand, if not the power of the scripture itself, then for sure the sacred quality of writing and of bodies. Sam had lived with Genine for a long while at the <a href="http://www.sfzc.org/">San Francisco Zen Center</a>.<br /><br />I went to <a href="http://mermaidstattoo.com/Home.html">Mermaids Tattoo</a>, a special place where all the tattoo artists are women. We talked about the scripts and Sam said that while she had written Sanskrit before she had never written Farsi. I liked the idea of being in the hands of someone who knew her scripts but would be writing one for the first time. It felt like an occasion in the universe."</blockquote>Kazim sent us this poem, which is an excerpt from a longer poem, which appeared in his book <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0819573574/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0819573574&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3ESky%20Ward%20(Wesleyan%20Poetry%20Series)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0819573574%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">SKY WARD</a> (<a href="http://www.wesleyan.edu/wespress/spotlight/wesleyan-poetry.html">Wesleyan University Press</a>, 2013)<br /><br /><i>from </i>"Journey to Providence"<br /><br />but will I broken will I undone<br />at the water ask to go deeper a boat<br />dusting lindern clears away envy<br /><br />wandering like lilac snow in dunes<br />never the water enter the duskwarm room<br />will I let you wing me will I have leapt skyward<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><br />Kazim Ali is the author of four books, most recently <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0819573574/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0819573574&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3ESky%20Ward%20(Wesleyan%20Poetry%20Series)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0819573574%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">SKY WARD</a>. He has also published two novels <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0975922777/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0975922777&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EQuinn's%20Passage%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0975922777%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">Quinn’s Passage</a> and <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/097974508X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=097974508X&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EThe%20Disappearance%20of%20Seth%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=097974508X%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">The Disappearance of Seth</a>, two collections of essays, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0472071270/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0472071270&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EOrange%20Alert:%20essays%20on%20poetry,%20art,%20and%20the%20architecture%20of%20silence%20(Poets%20on%20Poetry)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0472071270%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">Orange Alert: Essays on Poetry, Art and the Architecture of Silence</a> and <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1936797038/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1936797038&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EFasting%20for%20Ramadan:%20Notes%20from%20a%20Spiritual%20Practice%20(Tupelo%20Press%20Lineage%20Series)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1936797038%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">Fasting for Ramadan: Notes from a Spiritual Practice</a>, and translations of <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1938160223/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1938160223&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EThe%20Oasis%20of%20Now:%20Selected%20Poems%20(Lannan%20Translations%20Selection%20Series)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1938160223%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">Sohrab Sepehri</a>, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934824798/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1934824798&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EL'amour%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1934824798%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">Marguerite Duras</a> and <a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ananda_Devi">Ananda Devi</a>. <br /><br />His poems and essays have appeared widely in such journals as <a href="http://www.aprweb.org/">American Poetry Review</a>, <a href="https://www.kenyonreview.org/">Kenyon Review</a>, <a href="http://www.asu.edu/piper/publications/haydensferryreview/">Hayden’s Ferry Review</a>, <a href="http://coloradoreview.colostate.edu/colorado-review/">Colorado Review</a>, <a href="http://www.denverquarterly.com/">Denver Quarterly</a> and the <a href="http://www.hds.harvard.edu/news-events/harvard-divinity-bulletin">Harvard Divinity Bulletin</a>. He edited the essay collection <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0472071831/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0472071831&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EJean%20Valentine:%20This-World%20Company%20(Under%20Discussion)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0472071831%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">Jean Valentine: This-World Company</a> and serves as co-editor of the <a href="http://www.press.umich.edu/browse/series/UM31">Poets on Poetry Series</a> and the <a href="https://www.press.umich.edu/browse/series/UM34">Under Dicussion Series</a>, both from the <a href="http://www.press.umich.edu/">University of Michigan Press</a>, contributing editor of <a href="https://www.awpwriter.org/library/writers_chronicle_overview">AWP Writers Chronicle</a>, associate editor of <a href="http://www.oberlin.edu/ocpress/field.html">Field</a>, and founding editor of <a href="http://www.nightboat.org/">Nightboat Books</a>. <br /><br />He is an associate professor of Creative Writing and Comparative Literature at <a href="http://www.oberlin.edu/">Oberlin College</a> and has served as visiting writer at many colleges and universities including <a href="http://www.naropa.edu/">Naropa University</a>, <a href="http://www.stmarys-ca.edu/">St. Mary’s College of California</a>, <a href="http://www.nec.edu/">New England College</a>, <a href="http://www.txstate.edu/">Texas State University</a>, <a href="http://www.wiu.edu/">Western Illinois University</a>, <a href="http://www.umich.edu/">University of Michigan</a>, <a href="http://www.uwyo.edu/">University of Wyoming</a>, the <a href="http://www.usm.maine.edu/">University of Southern Maine</a> and <a href="http://www.idyllwildarts.org/">Idyllwild Academy</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Kazim Ali, not only for sharing his tattoos and poetry on the Tattooed Poets Project, but for taking the time to expound so thoughtfully on how he came to have this work done.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0819573574" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1932195947" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.3738471509423107" style="font-weight: normal; text-align: start;"></b></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.3738471509423107" style="font-weight: normal; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2013 Tattoosday. 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The Tattooed Poets Project: Kazim Ali

Our next tattooed poet is Kazim Ali . When I reached out to Kazim at the beginning of the year, he commended me on the "prescience...

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The Tattooed Poets Project: Virginia Chase Sutton

Our next tattooed poet, <a href="http://www.virginiachasesutton.com/">Virginia Chase Sutton</a>, is no stranger to tattooed poets projects - she appeared in <a href="http://www.kimaddonizio.com/Site/Site/_welcome.html">Kim Addonizio's</a> wonderful anthology <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446679046/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0446679046&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EDorothy%20Parker's%20Elbow:%20Tattoos%20on%20Writers,%20Writers%20on%20Tattoos%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0446679046%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">Dorothy Parker's Elbow: Tattoos on Writers, Writers on Tattoos<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0446679046" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /></a>.<br /><br />She sent us this photo of one of her tattoos:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzJGPn9E-f2I1SW0jKlEP3E0mpdW1qfSClSlmTqJ3HwDUfMfEWX0X4W0b3VeVlI_6pdfhlGTdBV7kgvsnHtqhnCUklPhBnpx_2THil3RJfQEmjX6Rz0nJLISAOE9SlbszKIDNYLOuLEA/s615/Sutton+Tattoo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzJGPn9E-f2I1SW0jKlEP3E0mpdW1qfSClSlmTqJ3HwDUfMfEWX0X4W0b3VeVlI_6pdfhlGTdBV7kgvsnHtqhnCUklPhBnpx_2THil3RJfQEmjX6Rz0nJLISAOE9SlbszKIDNYLOuLEA/s400/Sutton+Tattoo+2.JPG" width="298" /></a></div><br />Virginia offered up this story about the birth of this tattoo:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"It may sound silly, but the symbols came to me in a dream. I was lightly dozing one afternoon and the symbols were behind my eyelids. I opened my eyes and knew what I had to do---get the symbols for Suffering, Ecstasy, and Death tattooed on my back.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">The shop is called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/RisingPhoenixTattoo">Rising Phoenix Tattoo</a> in Addison, IL and the artist is Dave. I have been to Dave several times, even though I live in Arizona. This particular time, I was at a writers’ retreat in Illinois and knew I had to get the tattoo. I went with my god-son, Josh, who is in his late twenties. It is a long wait there as only Dave was there to manage the shop (we arrived at opening, noon). He had to answer the phone in mid-tattoo, pull off a glove, say 'Tattoo' and answer some basic question about hours, etc. then re-glove. If someone came in and wanted a piercing, he stopped the tattoo and did the piercing. So it took many hours to each get a tattoo. But it is worth it because Dave is a true artist."</blockquote>She also sent along a poem related to this particular tattoo:<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b>TATTOO AFTER KAWABATA’S <i>SNOW COUNTRY</i></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Out of town, on a new medication, a spill</div><div class="MsoNormal">down a flight of stairs,  strange bird</div><div class="MsoNormal">not quite flying. Limitless space. Off</div><div class="MsoNormal">to the ER. <i>Careful,</i> I tell the doc listening</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">to my lungs,<i> here is a fresh tattoo.</i> He steps</div><div class="MsoNormal">to the counter, back to me, says <i>Do you have<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>any medical conditions?</i> He already knows</div><div class="MsoNormal">from my forms but I reply <i>I am bipolar.</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">He asks <i>Do those lines mean anything?</i> Three</div><div class="MsoNormal">symbols in Japanese are stacked on my back</div><div class="MsoNormal">in black lines with pink and purple wisps.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Suffering. Ecstasy. Death,</i> I tell him. He turns,</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">startled. <i>Why,</i> he asks. <i>What else is there, </i>I say.<o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Bored with this discussion, I am thinking of Kawabata’s </div><div class="MsoNormal">poetic fiction, emblems I now have engraved </div><div class="MsoNormal">on my back. Influence for decades. <i>What<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>is your psychiatrist’s phone number back home?<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>I bet you know it by heart.</i> And I do. He pulls out</div><div class="MsoNormal">a cell phone, moves to the hall where I listen to</div><div class="MsoNormal">his take on my new tattoo. It is not a rave review.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I am miserable, wondering why so many docs</div><div class="MsoNormal">reject beauty, reject art. I think of the novel’s</div><div class="MsoNormal">main female character---there are only three--- </div><div class="MsoNormal">a geisha and prostitute, Komoko. Of her traditional</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">loveliness, her isolation, her pain in a land of dense </div><div class="MsoNormal">and white-out snow, a forever landscape.</div><div class="MsoNormal">The ER doc hands the phone to me---my shrink</div><div class="MsoNormal">has a few words. <i>You are on a long road, with<o:p></o:p></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>nothing but trouble ahead,</i> he warns me, and changes</div><div class="MsoNormal">my med. He does not require a response.</div><div class="MsoNormal">The ER doc takes back the phone and there is more</div><div class="MsoNormal">chit-chat between them. Shimamura, the male character,</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">a dilettante, wants pure beauty and finds it in Yukio’s </div><div class="MsoNormal">reflection. In his brain, she is perfection. My back</div><div class="MsoNormal">burns, blurry as gathering rain. I am dismissed. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Standing outside the hospital, waiting for a ride<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6058251288236499429" name="_GoBack"></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">this winter night, I look up at the cluttered sky. Stars flare,</div><div class="MsoNormal">popping their skins. In the book, the Milky Way is</div><div class="MsoNormal">a living thing. Shimamura becomes incandescent </div><div class="MsoNormal">as he observes Komoko rescuing Yukio from a fire. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Komoko staggers; Yukio’s leg is burned by flames. </div><div class="MsoNormal">In the last image, the Milky Way slides down </div><div class="MsoNormal">Shimamura’s throat. It is what I look for in tonight’s skies.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Constellations rise, gleam, illusion I am able to capture.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I know it is not the Milky Way, but it will do as part</div><div class="MsoNormal">of my own mythology, the puzzle of existence:</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i>Suffering. Ecstasy. Death.</i> <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal"><i><br /></i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><i>~ ~ ~ </i></div></div><br />Virginia Chase Sutton tells us:<br /><br />"My first book is <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0966145259/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0966145259&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EEmbellishments%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0966145259%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">Embellishments</a> (<a href="http://www.chatoyant.com/">Chatoyant</a>) and my second is <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1555536891/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1555536891&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EWhat%20Brings%20You%20to%20Del%20Amo%20(Samuel%20French%20Morse%20Poetry%20Prize)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1555536891%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">What Brings You to Del Amo</a> (<a href="http://www.upne.com/index_new.html">University of New England Press</a>). I’ve been published in <a href="http://www.theparisreview.org/">The Paris Review</a>, <a href="http://www.pshares.org/">Ploughshares</a>,<a href="http://antiochcollege.org/antioch_review/"> the Antioch Review</a>, <a href="http://www.quarterlywest.utah.edu/">Quarterly West</a>, among other magazines, journals and anthologies. I won the Louis Untermeyer Scholarship in Poetry at <a href="http://www.middlebury.edu/blwc">Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference</a>, the <a href="http://www.pccc.edu/home/cultural-affairs/poetry-center/prizes">Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award</a>, <a href="http://www.writersatwork.org/wp/">Writers at Work</a>, and others. Six times nominated for the <a href="http://www.pushcartprize.com/">Pushcart Prize</a>, I have also received three grants from <a href="http://www.pw.org/magazine">Poets & Writers magazine</a>."<br /><br />Thanks to Virginia for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday! For more of her poetry, head over to <a href="http://www.virginiachasesutton.com/poems.html">her website</a>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0966145259" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1555536891" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span> <b id="internal-source-marker_0.42663157382048666" 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 tattoo 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: Virginia Chase Sutton

Our next tattooed poet, Virginia Chase Sutton , is no stranger to tattooed poets projects - she appeared in Kim Addonizio's wonderful a...

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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...

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The Tattooed Poets Project: Thomas Fucaloro

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Today's tattooed poet is Thomas Fucaloro.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I met Thomas last summer after spotting him at the <a href="http://poetrysocietyny.org/new-york-city-poetry-festival/info-for-this-year/">New York City Poetry Festival</a> on <a href="http://www.govisland.com/html/home/home.shtml">Governor's Island</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is the tattoo on his leg:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCbOudGz9JID1UVhRLmHvQuWA8K8Sro2uD8MpaDVst7ScODUY1US72IZAxo_OEsuRVsmLMifnaClE4DIdR0OHKYflQvVc6vHLzD3eAb1_sj1nHYkcespPhCtoz9SQNvtZtsA5_gLW7vg/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/AVvXsEjbCbOudGz9JID1UVhRLmHvQuWA8K8Sro2uD8MpaDVst7ScODUY1US72IZAxo_OEsuRVsmLMifnaClE4DIdR0OHKYflQvVc6vHLzD3eAb1_sj1nHYkcespPhCtoz9SQNvtZtsA5_gLW7vg/s640/photo.jpg" width="520" /></a></div><br />For those of you who don't know, this is an illustration from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0064430227/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0064430227&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EHarold%20and%20the%20Purple%20Crayon%2050th%20Anniversary%20Edition%20(Purple%20Crayon%20Books)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0064430227%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">Harold and the Purple Crayon</a>, a children's book by <a href="https://www.ksu.edu/english/nelp/purple/index.html">Crockett Johnson</a>.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvGchN-gE4hT-84KyIaxfiWCmF8zcWRWJ8ML8_W2xqdR7XAc7vKYJnT9sSno7WkcFj4MBixX8V6ttsT5WXZSfVPnH-Fa6tHcCohtnzIdv41p2WFMdrMyvfSQ9-fsMYz_fviUNDzXxeKQ/s1600/haroldandpurple.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEvGchN-gE4hT-84KyIaxfiWCmF8zcWRWJ8ML8_W2xqdR7XAc7vKYJnT9sSno7WkcFj4MBixX8V6ttsT5WXZSfVPnH-Fa6tHcCohtnzIdv41p2WFMdrMyvfSQ9-fsMYz_fviUNDzXxeKQ/s400/haroldandpurple.gif" width="320" /></a></div><br />This was one of my favorite books as a kid, so really wanted to find out what this tattoo was all about.<br /><br />Thomas told me "I don't remember who gave me the tattoo, but I know they were affiliated with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Shaw_(tattooist)">Jonathan Shaw</a> and tattoos and cappuccino in the city, but this was 15 years ago."<br /><br />He sent along the following, which was "the poem that inspired the tattoo or vice versa":<br /><br /><i><u>Thomas and the Purple Crayon </u></i><br /><br />So there was no moon in the sky<br />so he drew one and then a house<br />with some windows, a door, a kitchen, a table<br />and then a mother and a father.<br /><br />The first time I told my parents I have a cocaine problem<br />they looked at me odd<br />like I just told them I want to run for the presidency<br />or<br />be an Olympic javelin thrower<br />or<br />become a poet.<br /><br />Thomas draws disappointment on their faces.<br /><br />Something is about to change in Thomas and I don’t even know it.<br /><br />I hope the need for coke becomes the need for my parents.<br /><br />The drawing of the house still, stands.<br />This time Thomas adds shutters to the windows<br />so nobody can see in or out. <br /><br />Thomas erases forks, knives and other sharp objects for <br />protection. He draws a hot air balloon in case he needs to escape.<br /><br />The 4th time I told my parents I have a cocaine problem<br />they looked at me sorrowingly, morningly set sunset vibrant<br />just for a second, gone. Ultimatums fly like high-heeled shoes thrown<br />at my head, rightfully so. Thomas draws band-aids. Don’t worry<br />he draws a hot air balloon in case he needs to escape.<br /><br />I’ve started writing poems where my father is the course through my veins<br />my mother a circulatory system of never ending branches reaching,<br />pulsating through arteries bloody blossoming through those little veins<br />in your eyeballs holding a stare of hope. Thomas draws his eyelids shut.<br /><br />The 7th time I told my parents I have a cocaine problem<br />they looked expected. Expected like the sun.<br />Expected like one day I would have to put my crayons away.<br />Expected like no hot water in my building.<br /><br />Thomas draws mountains of regret, <br />throws them off the George Washington Bridge<br />if only to draw anew.<br /><br />I’ve started drawing these poems <br />where Thomas is writing about telling my parents about the first few times<br />I had a cocaine problem but they keep coming out like this poem.<br /><br />Some people call me a drug poet.<br /><br />My parents are taking the place of drugs in all my poems.<br /><br />I think<br /><br />this is a good thing.<br /><br />I<br /><br />draw<br /><br />a smile.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thomas Fucaloro is a New York City poet who has a book out by <a href="http://threeroomspress.com/authors/thomas-fucaloro/">Three Rooms Press</a> called <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0984070079/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0984070079&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EInheriting%20Craziness%20is%20LIke%20a%20Soft%20Halo%20of%20Light%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0984070079%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">Inheriting Craziness</a> and is founding editor of <a href="http://greatweatherformedia.com/">great weather for MEDIA</a>. He likes rainbows.<br /><br />Thanks to Thomas for his contribution to Tattoosday!<br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0984070079" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.39728624955751" 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></div>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Thomas Fucaloro

Today's tattooed poet is Thomas Fucaloro. I met Thomas last summer after spotting him at the New York City Poetry Festival on Governor...

Read more »

The Tattooed Poets Project: Sarah Certa

Today's tattooed poet is <a href="http://sarahcerta.tumblr.com/">Sarah Certa</a>.<br /><br />Sarah's tattoo is simple, but powerful:<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/AVvXsEhLQ_LCBuor2gm5BqC4fyH6zWM-Cm_9Aj0Pze7UKyv3xS5iiyCm8GN_Ti4ssTx7nwgZjlbd6sMGZxkTkUVGdOXJK99X4vdWDt95mKhFqZatGvn6-8bYMy1AHGnv3NdiZMLZ5s6KiPuJd_4/s774/tattoo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQ_LCBuor2gm5BqC4fyH6zWM-Cm_9Aj0Pze7UKyv3xS5iiyCm8GN_Ti4ssTx7nwgZjlbd6sMGZxkTkUVGdOXJK99X4vdWDt95mKhFqZatGvn6-8bYMy1AHGnv3NdiZMLZ5s6KiPuJd_4/s640/tattoo+1.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Sarah Certa</td></tr></tbody></table>She even sent along a collage of the tattoo process:<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/AVvXsEicc5NhkWoTRsY1jbf4d_H0_gAKn2U9na_CyRTipNAIqNNjc31VegxRXa98PZ6b1XOu2DcQeLt7ZZjoBAiI6kNMhZhyphenhyphenBtxEmqa3tYlrUsUzMRqtl9YBf_-Vxbe3Fu0Q3QJ74rPEIyP2wXk/s615/tattoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicc5NhkWoTRsY1jbf4d_H0_gAKn2U9na_CyRTipNAIqNNjc31VegxRXa98PZ6b1XOu2DcQeLt7ZZjoBAiI6kNMhZhyphenhyphenBtxEmqa3tYlrUsUzMRqtl9YBf_-Vxbe3Fu0Q3QJ74rPEIyP2wXk/s640/tattoo.jpg" width="494" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photos by Laura Martie</td></tr></tbody></table>Why does a woman have a tattoo of the name "Johnny" on her arm? I'll let Sarah explain:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"My tattoo was done at <a href="http://www.voodootattoostudio.net/">Voodoo Tattoo</a> in Big Lake, MN. It's on the inside of my left wrist, and it's my brother's name, Johnny, in my handwriting. He is two years younger than me and in the Army Infantry, currently deployed in southern Afghanistan. I got the tattoo this past fall, November 2012, about a month before he deployed, because I wanted to do something to show my support and admiration for him, and since I carry a strong needle phobia, this was a very big thing for me to do. It also serves as a reminder of strength, especially on hard days, to just keep going, the way he does..."</blockquote>Sarah also sent us this poem, which is making its first appearance here:<br /><br /><b>The Wind</b><br /><br />I’ve been eating way too much chocolate <br />these past few days, which really fucks up <br />my bikini-season diet, which is really<br />a ridiculous thing to waste time thinking about because regardless of my pant size<br />one day I’m going to die. This is not a newsflash<br />but every time I think about it, it’s as if I’m being beat<br />in the stomach with a baseball bat, and on it are the signatures<br />of everyone I’ve ever loved. It’s amazing<br />that I continue to recover from these assaults, that somehow<br />I get out of bed. I make coffee. Every day<br />I brush my teeth. I smooth Burt’s Bees chap-stick<br />on my lips, which are filled with blood, and how incredible<br />is that? How incredible, that I’m able to stand up<br />and put one foot in front of the other, shuffle forward<br />one small miracle at a time. How incredible, yet how<br />pathetic, as I sit here with my coffee and my diet, while nearly 2,000 miles away<br />my little brother is marching in the 5 AM rain with the rest<br />of his infantry platoon. He is already my hero, <br />the way he skydives into this life, so reckless yet good<br />to himself, raving about sushi like it’s his religion and sipping $90 whiskey <br />that’s almost as old as he is. You just keep going, he says. You’re not going to die<br />from running too much. I think about him <br />training for war this summer, hiking 25 miles <br />in the California desert with 60 pounds on his back, knowing<br />that soon he’ll be on foot in southern Afghanistan where he could <br />be blown to pieces at any minute, and already<br />each step he takes is an army-sized miracle, each breath the wind that pushes me <br />through another goddamn day. <br /><br />~ ~ ~<br /><br />Sarah Certa holds an MFA in Writing from <a href="http://www.vcfa.edu/">Vermont College of Fine Arts</a>. Her poems appear in <a href="http://www.countrymusicpoetry.org/">Country Music</a>, <a href="http://www.thebakerypoetry.com/">The Bakery</a>, <a href="http://bodyliterature.com/">B O D Y</a>, and <a href="http://www.pankmagazine.com/">PANK</a>, among other places. She is the Social Media Director for <a href="http://www.h-ngm-n.com/">H_NGM_N</a>, a contributing editor for <a href="http://www.splitrockreview.org/">Split Rock Review</a>, and a freelance writer and photographer. Find her online at <a href="http://sarahcerta.tumblr.com/">sarahcerta.tumblr.com</a>. <br /><br />Thanks to Sarah for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday's Tattooed Poets Project! And a special thanks to her brother Johnny for his service to our country. We're wishing him our very best and pray for his safety while he is overseas.<br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2013 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><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: Sarah Certa

Today's tattooed poet is Sarah Certa . Sarah's tattoo is simple, but powerful: Photo by Sarah Certa She even sent along a collage of...

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The Tattooed Poets Project: kathryn l. pringle

Our next tattooed poet is <a href="http://kathrynlpringle.blogspot.com/">kathryn l. pringle</a>, who sent us this tattoo on her left arm::<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFTVwE_0442ojJQzo_w3TJCzVWb0rsEuVIqf8ehyphenhyphenAzsW7mymsSqTxEPDNvIUV7hOVUaTFjOSc-Sck-zNYmwIWbeyTJB2pPW1pWCRT4k2wxJSibFEvSYvMBu3IatAKUk_XGXby9pPrV8o/s615/pringle,+kathryn+l.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTFTVwE_0442ojJQzo_w3TJCzVWb0rsEuVIqf8ehyphenhyphenAzsW7mymsSqTxEPDNvIUV7hOVUaTFjOSc-Sck-zNYmwIWbeyTJB2pPW1pWCRT4k2wxJSibFEvSYvMBu3IatAKUk_XGXby9pPrV8o/s640/pringle,+kathryn+l.jpg" width="466" /></a></div><br /><br />kathryn offered up this background of the piece:<br /><br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"when i was 18 years old, i decided to get a tattoo of a spider on a purple web on my right shoulder. only, it never really looked like a spider on a web. it looked more like a peacock. so, at 26, very sick of people asking me about the wimpy peacock on my shoulder, i went into <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Monkey-Wrench/174250662585147">Monkey Wrench</a> tattoo shop in Santa Rosa, CA and talked to Billy the Pope about my options. he said only two things would do the trick: a panther or a dragon. intrigued more by the dragon option, i asked him to draw up some ideas and o, by the way, can you tattoo these chinese characters for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei">wu wei</a> [from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taoism">Taoism</a>] on my arm before i go home? and so he did. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-uGn9QoWFfjRc5URwqB3iLva4Ox2bACo1YxiZBSpVM1J6lr2wftTBWwnVXTJGjZHwERcQaGqSR9yWGgGWamoI08bORwTTknW2ZqM4Hx82nrZOKmtChHy-SIA0TpRjfM1f5A-m-McUIjg/s570/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-uGn9QoWFfjRc5URwqB3iLva4Ox2bACo1YxiZBSpVM1J6lr2wftTBWwnVXTJGjZHwERcQaGqSR9yWGgGWamoI08bORwTTknW2ZqM4Hx82nrZOKmtChHy-SIA0TpRjfM1f5A-m-McUIjg/s400/photo.jpg" width="365" /></a></div></blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">two weeks later i go back in, and there's my dragon - carefully drawn out on very thin paper. we started work: it took 9 2-hour sessions. Billy was so excited, he was beside himself. he got to do something more creative than the usual rose or sailor. and i got to cover up that ridiculous peacock."</blockquote><br />kathryn sent us this poem:<br /><br /><b>from <i>civil engineering</i></b><br /><br />what do you know<br />of my lungs<br /><br />what of my breathing<br />my expansiveness<br />or pulmonary life<br /><br />in the pockets of yr lungs<br />the tiniest fragments<br />penetrating<br />careful not to puncture<br /><br />a stick in the ribs<br /><br />that’s what it feels like<br /><br />a stick in the ribs<br /><br />to care about humans<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><br />kathryn l. pringle lives in Oakland, CA. She is the author of <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1890650706/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1890650706&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EFault%20Tree%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1890650706%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">fault tree</a> (winner of <a href="http://www.omnidawn.com/">Omindawn’s</a> <a href="http://www.omnidawn.com/contest/poetry-contests.htm">1st/2nd book prize</a> selected by <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/728">C.D. Wright</a>), <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1600010571/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1600010571&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3ERight%20New%20Biology%20(Heretical%20Texts)%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1600010571%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">RIGHT NEW BIOLOGY</a> (<a href="http://www.factoryschool.org/ht/index.html">Heretical Texts/Factory School</a>), <a href="http://www.durationpress.com/bookstore/ebooks/pringle/pringle.pdf">The Stills</a> (<a href="http://www.durationpress.com/">Duration Press</a>), and <a href="http://taxtpress.blogspot.com/2006/06/pringle.html">Temper and Felicity are Lovers</a>.(<a href="http://taxtpress.blogspot.com/">TAXT</a>). Poems can be found in <a href="http://www.denverquarterly.com/">Denver Quarterly</a>, <a href="http://www.epiphanyzine.com/">Epiphany</a>, <a href="http://www.albany.edu/writers-inst/webpages4/publications/fence.html">Fence</a>, <a href="http://mrsmaybe.wordpress.com/about/">Mrs. Maybe</a>, <a href="http://www.phoebejournal.com/">Phoebe</a>, and fiction can be found in <a href="http://www.manorhousequarterly.com/">Manor House Quarterly</a> and <a href="http://horselesspress.com/horse-less-review/">Horse Less Review</a>. Her work can also be found in the anthologies <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1466239549/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1466239549&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EConversations%20at%20the%20Wartime%20Cafe:%20a%20Decade%20of%20War%202001-2011%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1466239549%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">Conversations at the Wartime Cafe: A Decade of War</a> (WODV Press), <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934254339/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1934254339&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EI'll%20Drown%20My%20Book:%20Conceptual%20Writing%20by%20Women%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1934254339%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">I’ll Drown My Book: Conceptual Writing by Women</a> (<a href="http://www.lesfigues.com/lfp/index.php">Les Figues</a>), and <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1937658074/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1937658074&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EThe%20Sonnets:%20Translating%20and%20Rewriting%20Shakespeare%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1937658074%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">The Sonnets: Translating and Rewriting Shakespeare</a> (<a href="http://www.nightboat.org/">Nightboat Books</a>). In 2013, she was a very grateful recipient of a gift from the Fund for Poetry.<br /><br />Thanks to kathryn for sharing her poem and tattoo with us here on Tattoosday's Tattooed Poets Project!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1890650706" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br /></div><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 tattoo 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: kathryn l. pringle

Our next tattooed poet is kathryn l. pringle , who sent us this tattoo on her left arm:: kathryn offered up this background of the piece: ...

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The Tattooed Poets Project: Khadija Anderson

Our next tattooed poet, <a href="http://khadijaanderson.com/">Khadija Anderson</a>, expressed an interest in our Tattooed Poets Project last year, so we're happy we were able to finalize her contribution for 2013.<br /><br />Noting "it was hard to choose since I love all my 7 tattoos!" Khadija sent us this photo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRe1gOaK1cBmn05Xs-cm1tqdYdje0tk812E-RpBq98jQzk0u83pQvB7cJvGxgaPnT8wfMWHjTO7ylFQr4rbhCuzOG0_w9WICxP-ZZpfR_IGN_BcIkUiB8hrXr3uymf7Y6cHKLK0pv1pfU/s404/tattoo+Khadija+Anderson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRe1gOaK1cBmn05Xs-cm1tqdYdje0tk812E-RpBq98jQzk0u83pQvB7cJvGxgaPnT8wfMWHjTO7ylFQr4rbhCuzOG0_w9WICxP-ZZpfR_IGN_BcIkUiB8hrXr3uymf7Y6cHKLK0pv1pfU/s400/tattoo+Khadija+Anderson.jpg" width="346" /></a></div><br />Khadija tells us:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">"My tattoo is Arabic calligraphy of a verse from the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran">Qur'an</a> (<a href="http://quran.com/9/40">9:40</a>), " laa ta'hazen fa innah Allaha maana". The translation is 'Don't give up hope, Allah is with us.' I chose this design because the calligraphy is gorgeous, I love the humanitarian message of the verse, and I like to show that I am a Muslim in a non-traditional way. A friend of mine, Russell Moore, did the tattoo in my living room in Los Angeles in 2008 shortly after I moved back to LA. It was the 5th of my 7 tattoos."</blockquote>It seems appropriate that Khadija sent us a poem, as well, that is related to her faith:<br /><br /><b>Today for Jury Duty I decide to wear the Hijab</b><br /><br />for the first time in 5 years<br />except to pray<br />I put it on and felt<br />a familiar feeling<br /><br />People stared<br />since white skin blue eyes<br />and black skinny jeans<br />are not what most people imagine<br />a good Muslim would have on<br />under a scarf<br /><br />One man stared furiously<br />I held my tongue<br />and smiled sweetly<br />like the good Muslim<br />that I am<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="http://khadijaanderson.com/">Khadija Anderson</a> returned in 2008 to her native Los Angeles after 18 years exile in Seattle. Khadija's poetry has been published in <a href="http://palehouse.com/about.html">Pale House</a>, <a href="http://unfetteredverse.blogspot.com/">Unfettered Verse</a>, <a href="http://www.washingtonpoets.org/">Washington Poets Association's</a> online <i>whispers & [Shouts]</i>, <a href="http://www.commonlinejournal.com/p/organization.html">CommonLine Project</a>, <a href="http://qarrtsiluni.com/">Qarrtsiluni</a>, <a href="http://www.guttereloquence.com/">Gutter Eloquence</a>, <a href="http://www.killpoet.com/ray/KillaP.swf">Killpoet</a>, <a href="http://www.wheelhousemagazine.com/home.html">wheelhouse 9</a>, and many other online and print journals. Khadija was a 2009 <a href="http://www.pushcartprize.com/">Pushcart Prize</a> Nominee and she holds an MFA in Creative Writing from <a href="http://www.antiochla.edu/">Antioch University Los Angeles</a>. Her first book of poetry, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/098148364X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=098148364X&linkCode=as2&tag=bill03-20%22%3EHistory%20of%20Butoh%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=as2&o=1&a=098148364X%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">History of Butoh</a>, was published in 2012 by <a href="http://writlargepress.com/">Writ Large Press</a>. You can learn more about her at: <a href="http://khadijaanderson.com/">http://khadijaanderson.com</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Khadija Anderson for her contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=098148364X" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe><br /></div><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2013 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.</span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><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: Khadija Anderson

Our next tattooed poet, Khadija Anderson , expressed an interest in our Tattooed Poets Project last year, so we're happy we were able to...

Read more »