The Tattooed Poets Project: Stephen Caratzas

Today's tattooed poet is Stephen Caratzas, who was sent our way via Jillian Brall, a tattooed poet who has appeared on the Tattooed Poets Project twice before (<a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2009/05/tattooed-poets-project-jillian-bralls.html">here</a> and <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/04/tattooed-poets-project-jillian-brall.html">here</a>).<br /><br />Stephen sent along this cool photo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWrDjwOpKY7z-6ntilqDgYjuNVHqZDTW9Wb_lD4D_Y_umdENoCH3Ecvbp9K_WHa3EYEgbBQwHuiqOwOMXaaUer8RdTfQwrK2pc2I8YQzwKWHNC3eeKJpX65C-U_i5CxNlpsUR2GAjllZM/s1600/spc_despair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWrDjwOpKY7z-6ntilqDgYjuNVHqZDTW9Wb_lD4D_Y_umdENoCH3Ecvbp9K_WHa3EYEgbBQwHuiqOwOMXaaUer8RdTfQwrK2pc2I8YQzwKWHNC3eeKJpX65C-U_i5CxNlpsUR2GAjllZM/s400/spc_despair.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The tattoo in question is on his wrist. For a closer look:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TZ6Vyc7GpEw8VQjPH9_b4LodOd7P-1IeyuM2NtR1lhx7AQvdlh3EmKpZHcKU6lgxgskW3uFAjqihuFjP0BPcHq6TNxp3vSNjGAyjq2pAs21EcEPKd1RsEQSnZmfJusK7MlJgF_8srQI/s1600/spc_despair+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9TZ6Vyc7GpEw8VQjPH9_b4LodOd7P-1IeyuM2NtR1lhx7AQvdlh3EmKpZHcKU6lgxgskW3uFAjqihuFjP0BPcHq6TNxp3vSNjGAyjq2pAs21EcEPKd1RsEQSnZmfJusK7MlJgF_8srQI/s1600/spc_despair+detail.jpg" /></a></div><br />Stephen explains: <br /><br /><blockquote><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTzpCUAL1aRkKzgVN026v8hRtZcHdIjN-n_qlR5zXV3wmif7vgsvVACUlFu0l5g0u86wH3uUMYZHdTOmFOenlVrlaLrXNpS4oWYHoy1jkGsuwdnvFtfV77x9mnvVu__LAs8s7P1pg6Wo/s1600/ohmss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWTzpCUAL1aRkKzgVN026v8hRtZcHdIjN-n_qlR5zXV3wmif7vgsvVACUlFu0l5g0u86wH3uUMYZHdTOmFOenlVrlaLrXNpS4oWYHoy1jkGsuwdnvFtfV77x9mnvVu__LAs8s7P1pg6Wo/s1600/ohmss.jpg" /></a>"The tattoo is a griffin, inspired by an image of a griffin holding a <a href="http://www.waltherpistols.com/category/41-Walther_PPK_Handguns.aspx">Walther</a> PPK automatic pistol on the cover of <a href="http://www.ianfleming.com/">Ian Fleming's</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Her_Majesty%27s_Secret_Service_%28novel%29">On Her Majesty's Secret Service</a>. The artist, whose first name was Mike - don't recall his last name - decided to make the gun into the griffin's paw, which I agreed was a sensible idea.<br /><br />I got the idea for a tattoo on the inside of my wrist from one of the characters (Casper, I believe) in <a href="http://www.larryclark.us/">Larry Clark's</a> film, <a href="http://www.larryclark.us/#kids"><i>Kids</i></a>. I liked the idea of having a visible tattoo even while wearing a long-sleeve dress shirt."</blockquote><br />The tattoo is among eight Stephen has, and was inked at <a href="http://funcitytattoo.com/">Fun City Tattoo</a> on Macdougal Street in Manhattan back in the late 1990s.<br /><br />Stephen sent us several poems, but I liked this one best:<br /><br /><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">THE NEW CORONERS</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I never felt so good as when a waiter </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">in Amsterdam called me monsieur</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">after ordering beef champignon</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">putting his pen to his lips and looking off</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">“I believe monsieur has ordered the better dish”</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">so then you ordered it too</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">in a place called De Oude Doelen</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">(the old aims the old targets the old goals)</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">a drunk at the bar sang along with the jukebox</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">for years afterward I searched for the song</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">it wasn’t Elvis but it was sad</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">the song and the drunk and it was our last meal</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">when we two parted it was inevitable </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">it always is it always is</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~ </div><br />Stephen Caratzas is a writer, musician and visual artist living in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. His writing has been published in <a href="http://www.terraincognita.50megs.com/what.html#english"><span style="font-style: italic;">Terra Incognita</span></a>, <a href="http://threeroomspress.com/"><span style="font-style: italic;">Maintenant 5</span></a>, <a href="http://versemag.blogspot.com/2005/09/new-review-of-tiny.html"><span style="font-style: italic;">the tiny</span></a>, and many other journals.<br /><br />Thanks to Stephen for sending us his tattoo and poems! We here at Tattoosday are grateful for his contribution.<br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. The poem is reprinted here with the permission of the author.<br /><br />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></span>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Stephen Caratzas

Today's tattooed poet is Stephen Caratzas, who was sent our way via Jillian Brall, a tattooed poet who has appeared on the Tattooed Poet...

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