The Tattooed Poets Project: Gerry LaFemina

Today's tattooed poet is Gerry LaFemina. Gerry put together a narrative about his ink, which makes my job easier, and gives us a detailed view of his tattoos. Let's see what he has to say:<br /><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8sbTI_svYhzaJ7mKfRhvUUusLziY4NXTCPnD1ijC-b1uOkE-VXTJ-nBuVUHXkwYehNpuzdJDbejt8VGGTftipPe4F0E012fft3tGoB-OonIdqNArNQjlvn7k7HusSfFCUkh51ahvuYNI/s1600/tattoo+one+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8sbTI_svYhzaJ7mKfRhvUUusLziY4NXTCPnD1ijC-b1uOkE-VXTJ-nBuVUHXkwYehNpuzdJDbejt8VGGTftipPe4F0E012fft3tGoB-OonIdqNArNQjlvn7k7HusSfFCUkh51ahvuYNI/s320/tattoo+one+cropped.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="http://joygainesfriedler.com/default.aspx">Joy Gaines-Friedler</a></td></tr></tbody></table>"My first tattoo–I was 19, I was a punk rock kid, and I had been thinking about getting a tattoo for some time.  I had had a dream in which I had a tattoo of a skull and crossbones design in which the skull had peace symbols for eyes.  When I was shaving the next morning, I was surprised I didn’t have the tattoo.  So I called up my friend Melody, whose uncle was Tattoo Ray–one of the best tattooists on Staten Island.  She made the appointment and came with me to her uncle’s house.</div></blockquote><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">            In New York at the time (the mid 1980's), tattooing was still illegal: most tattoo artists worked out of their homes and their clientele was through word of mouth.  Ray was pretty famous–and I have met a number of people over the years on Staten island who had work done by Ray. He was funny, sarcastic, and quick-tongued.  I remember asking him about his needles (this was in the midst of the AIDS epidemic) after all and he asked me right back “How clean is your blood?”</div></blockquote><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">             I liked him immediately.  He did the work.  His niece and I talked.  I just remember being surprised how much the tattoo gun sounded like a dentist drill.  The little whine, the humming buzz.</div></blockquote><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">            My second tattoo: I got my senior year in college.  We found somebody in Westchester who did the work in his suburban neighborhood house.  I remember little of the experience.  The tattoo was not the one I wanted: what I had hoped to get – Tigger with a microphone and a mohawk jumping on his tail – I ended up not being able to afford.  Instead: I went with symmetry – and more pirate stuff: a rose with crossed swords above the left bicep.  In hindsight, this tattoo has held up better than Tigger probably would have....</div></blockquote><blockquote><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/AVvXsEg2rEPFozx0RDL9qz6nEMgLXrFD3Y7oMDDoWYBdpCg0zuPa4h0IZjPWzMaGaTTCWWgy5K72LkchSims52dZ4ZlfKvz875YOa6oOMUG5VP27zO2NF_mnj98tjbZl2DKJxDrnw2Inhi3qoiY/s1600/lafemina+and+tattoo+2+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2rEPFozx0RDL9qz6nEMgLXrFD3Y7oMDDoWYBdpCg0zuPa4h0IZjPWzMaGaTTCWWgy5K72LkchSims52dZ4ZlfKvz875YOa6oOMUG5VP27zO2NF_mnj98tjbZl2DKJxDrnw2Inhi3qoiY/s400/lafemina+and+tattoo+2+cropped.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="http://joygainesfriedler.com/default.aspx">Joy Gaines-Friedler</a></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">            What lasts though are the tattoos I wanted to get but didn’t: After the rose I wanted to get Charlie Chaplin tattooed on me.  I asked several artist friends of mine to make me a design, and I got a few of them, but none of them “worked.”  And for several years I wanted the logo for my old band tattooed somewhere.  But neither happened.</div></blockquote><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>            So I went with two for a long time: but I often thought about getting new ink.  I wrote.  I taught.  I created a program for young writers in northern Michigan called the Controlled Burn Seminar for Young Writers.  I committed 13 years to that project, and after the tenth seminar, I thought I would get its logo – a lit cherry bomb – tattooed on my right forearm.  The logo was important to me: I believe poetry and all art should be a lit cherry bomb.  It should be a potential explosion.  But it should be fun, too.  I looked into it a few times, but I finally made the decision on a lark a few days after my birthday.  I was walking on Carson Street in Pittsburgh – tattoo parlor row.  I liked the name <a href="http://flyingmonkeytattooshop.com/">Flying Monkey Tattoo</a>.  So in I went.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote><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/AVvXsEic_2L48SmCZFJgdBCPH2T1fx8ViBWeDDMvFIt9QgQfOE_m58Vv3V6I8rPgFBrGriRhIWhPsC6DyBNmP4o1YS07i_WPi2xrtmUxAKYxUsvzuZzG-_yFe7DyNNSELrll-gUZX4obe8_RB40/s1600/tattoo+three+2+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic_2L48SmCZFJgdBCPH2T1fx8ViBWeDDMvFIt9QgQfOE_m58Vv3V6I8rPgFBrGriRhIWhPsC6DyBNmP4o1YS07i_WPi2xrtmUxAKYxUsvzuZzG-_yFe7DyNNSELrll-gUZX4obe8_RB40/s400/tattoo+three+2+cropped.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by <a href="http://joygainesfriedler.com/default.aspx">Joy Gaines-Friedler</a></td></tr></tbody></table></blockquote></div><br /><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">            The tattooist was a kid, He could have been one of my students–he was finishing up his apprenticeship and mine was one of his first tattoos.  The seminar after the ink ended up being the last one.  It seemed fitting that the creative writing kids got to see it before the seminar ended.</div></blockquote><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal">            And now I’m back to collecting designs: this time, though, I know who’s going to do the tattoos.  The next one will be a Buddha carrying a tattered pirate flag on my back.  These are the two strains of my life.  And I want the MG logo somewhere.  I’ve been driving an MGB for 15 years.  The tattoo is a commitment and the things I am committed too, the things that define me, that continue to define me I want inked on me.  I spend much of my life putting ink on paper.  I think it’s only fitting to have some ink on me, too."</div></blockquote>And now, for one of Gerry's poems:<br />  <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><b>Alphabet City</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">            Avenues A through D, Lower </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">East Side</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, NYC</i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">After the ambulances left but</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">before the sun finally rose above Avenue</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">C, I walked toward Tompkins Square Park where the heroin </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">dependent rockers slept, addled on benches, while</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">ex-punks huddled in their leather jackets</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">for the morning was still damp. One of them called out,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gerry? </i>What was I to do when I saw her, recognized</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">her hesitant familiar eyes. How could I have</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">imagined things would turn out this way when I’d call out <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">her </i>name —</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">Joanna — those sleepless nights of high school &</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">kept a photo of her deep into college.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">Longing has such a sense of history.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">Morning was approaching in its colorful coat.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">Not once those months of kissing her, had I wakened beside her, but</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">oh — I’d wanted to. She was thinner & glanced away when I nodded;</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">pigeons surrounded her bench but would take off</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">quickly with the first sudden movement or when the next squad car</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">revealed itself in flashers & sirens.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">So what did I do? What could I do?</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">The three five dollar bills folded in my pocket, what</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">use were they to me? I gave them to her, she who’d once been beautiful. How</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">victorious I’d felt that first time I kissed her.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">We didn’t look at each other, nor did we look askance. I thought of the little</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">xiphoid syringes she might load with that money. This was my sin.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">Two young black kids with dreadlocks walked by singing</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zion</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">! Take me back to </i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Zion</i><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">! </i>& I knew I’d never be saved.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">– Gerry LaFemina</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none;">from <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193469522X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=193469522X%22%3EVanishing%20Horizon%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=193469522X&camp=217145&creative=399349%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vanishing Horizon</i></a>, 2011 Anhinga Press<br /><br /></div>Gerry LaFemina is the author of seven books of poems, most recently <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/193469522X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=193469522X%22%3EVanishing%20Horizon%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=193469522X&camp=217145&creative=399349%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E">Vanishing Horizon</a> (2011, <a href="http://www.anhinga.org/books/book_info.cfm?title=Vanishing%20Horizon">Anhinga Press</a>) and a collection of short stories.  He directs the <a href="http://www.frostburg.edu/cwcenter/">Frostburg Center for Creative Writing</a> at Frostburg State University where he also teaches.  He splits his time between Maryland and New York City.<br /><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><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=193469522X" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe></div><br />Thanks to Gerry for sharing his tattoos and poetry with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. The poem is reprinted here with the permission of the author.</span><br /><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 <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://tattoosday.blogspot.com</a> 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></div>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Gerry LaFemina

Today's tattooed poet is Gerry LaFemina. Gerry put together a narrative about his ink, which makes my job easier, and gives us a detaile...

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A Quartet of Art-Inspired Tattoos

When I asked Brian how many tattoos he had, back in October when I met him at Borders in Penn Plaza, he kind of shrugged and said "I don't even know". A great answer, in my opinion.<br /><br />Brian is an interior designer and many of his tattoos are inspired by the art he admires.<br /><br />Three of the tattoos I photographed are on his right arm. First is this red tattoo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUgY08ALJ6BJ-sOGcc0LiToHCdtZrttvXE8EG4MbWtPOcEOJwUsnbNPgjiPDrkC9pzXdgxyLlX_oHjECMOiJAhs3cyOhjlbYVHoxHHiOV8VerPzJ8yAZQYVWvgaD2fMet8fVSton9XL7U/s1600/Dada+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUgY08ALJ6BJ-sOGcc0LiToHCdtZrttvXE8EG4MbWtPOcEOJwUsnbNPgjiPDrkC9pzXdgxyLlX_oHjECMOiJAhs3cyOhjlbYVHoxHHiOV8VerPzJ8yAZQYVWvgaD2fMet8fVSton9XL7U/s400/Dada+wm.jpg" width="352" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This, Brian explained, is a piece that pays homage to Dada, or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dadaism">Dadaism</a>, a cultural movement from the early 20th Century that included one segment of the arts. Brian is inspired by this movement from an artistic perspective.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On his upper arm, Brian has this Buddha image, which he says has an Andy Warhol-inspired perspective:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlZ7_8hiqqYlkCXyDN0tMlHPrlrEGISQpU9Y27OalEQEY4M5xtFOiRoj7kSvfNBgLEeVUwXT_vn4Cn-Mi7wQfsduGKIcUeZIIg3zcYGwXFsKVEzoe0gE8dela_z9cg0uRsCRr_hnBddk/s1600/Warhol+Buddha+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHlZ7_8hiqqYlkCXyDN0tMlHPrlrEGISQpU9Y27OalEQEY4M5xtFOiRoj7kSvfNBgLEeVUwXT_vn4Cn-Mi7wQfsduGKIcUeZIIg3zcYGwXFsKVEzoe0gE8dela_z9cg0uRsCRr_hnBddk/s640/Warhol+Buddha+wm.jpg" width="316" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">That is on the outer part of the upper arm, on the inner side is this item:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0kIl7YXk4onBjlmv5RddfUC1d20nY3peZnkwqXrk4IiptKNXR5eY0xhjfyD5jZD-0QDUlZI3qgTaXZu5YXbvdXIkexrIxuvGLjhhu2XFOVFyMVRwM1Po6Et4TeOrTJeHcR6Lh8SOgu5s/s1600/Egg+Chair+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0kIl7YXk4onBjlmv5RddfUC1d20nY3peZnkwqXrk4IiptKNXR5eY0xhjfyD5jZD-0QDUlZI3qgTaXZu5YXbvdXIkexrIxuvGLjhhu2XFOVFyMVRwM1Po6Et4TeOrTJeHcR6Lh8SOgu5s/s640/Egg+Chair+wm.jpg" width="406" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">This is a take on the "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_%28chair%29">Egg Chair</a>," a piece of furniture whose style became popular in the forward-looking 1960's. The form above is more like the Scandinavian <a href="http://www.ovalia.com/eng_entre.htm">Ovalia</a> style of egg chair.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And finally, Brian showed me one of his favorite tattoos, just above his waistline:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPjrdBdbzXtrWZV6ld99ZjsuwV5ECIXxaN2cKX3IovR_kXOcoYodjFqnY11GF5ThOlee-ba4KkbHTJDMNDakvX2uCYxnHo6lGexxofAlCmFbqVRx2yFFoGa3UNclr8KS17pDNHVK92so/s1600/urinal+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZPjrdBdbzXtrWZV6ld99ZjsuwV5ECIXxaN2cKX3IovR_kXOcoYodjFqnY11GF5ThOlee-ba4KkbHTJDMNDakvX2uCYxnHo6lGexxofAlCmFbqVRx2yFFoGa3UNclr8KS17pDNHVK92so/s640/urinal+wm.jpg" width="478" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As mentioned above, Brian is inspired by Dadaism, and one of the figures that became most associated with the movement was the artist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Duchamp">Marcel Duchamp</a>. This tattoo is based on his work <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountain_%28Duchamp%29">Fountain</a>, which caused quite a stir in 1917.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbcHbkmXZoMeblpqH3dOv-Wo8HTpLWrfDTWYSM92RAh334Mdl9CxQW7gUOILO353Azp2lDkj_g-J2XuzKAk1JB4szAQWTU9pWtBsihDt6RafhSHVxFgvnmOLDhBK5rengV26X7YeZcIAc/s1600/Duchamp_Fountain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbcHbkmXZoMeblpqH3dOv-Wo8HTpLWrfDTWYSM92RAh334Mdl9CxQW7gUOILO353Azp2lDkj_g-J2XuzKAk1JB4szAQWTU9pWtBsihDt6RafhSHVxFgvnmOLDhBK5rengV26X7YeZcIAc/s400/Duchamp_Fountain.jpg" width="336" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These tattoos were inked by Texxx at <a href="http://www.blogger.com/">Flying Monkey Tattoo</a> in Pittsburgh.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks to Brian for sharing these cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!</div>

A Quartet of Art-Inspired Tattoos

When I asked Brian how many tattoos he had, back in October when I met him at Borders in Penn Plaza, he kind of shrugged and said "I do...

Read more »