Indelible (Poem)

Indelible

      for ddb

Needle nuzzles skin
but you give no blood.
This is about black work

and shading and the hues
with no holidays inside
the permanent main lines.

Not for you some flash.
Your designs are the stuff
of the dream catcher

the trickster god, shaman
healer, conferrer of light
connecting what's inside

to what's now out: immortal
red rows of Chinese characters
on muscle-hardened back.

The language of myth
fills out your life's own
philosophy that others

refuse to read as more
than a call to attention.
Strong shoulders bear

your raven's wings spread
wide, a hamsa cradled
below in a once-empty nest

of space, all five senses
defending against the evil
eye. A snake wraps the earth

dragon round your left
sleeve, tail tucked deep
into your armpit, the canvas

that is your body taking not
for the last time the mark
of the artist's indelible ink.

© 2013 Maureen E. Doallas
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This month the theme at TweetSpeakPoetry and Every Day Poems is tattoos. My son, as some know, has a number of impressive tattoos to which I allude in this poem. I've used a few terms ("black work", "holidays", "flash") that are the jargon of the business.

For this months Tattoo Playlist, go here.