The Tattooed Poets Project: Christina Continelli

Today's tattoo comes to us from poet Christina Continelli. This is part of the lower half of her arm sleeve:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh17kuPx84KmKqDtf59dOinQw3_jY0c1KNNFe1YJ5B-dbu1SDaXlujYEtipLDVN9DS2s4Ynvij4369BTaldpzbdRkAyw9AANKY99weoIjzfqKy1rGr77vLHfRkIZFS0uce6krPhnWMQRKE/s1600/metal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh17kuPx84KmKqDtf59dOinQw3_jY0c1KNNFe1YJ5B-dbu1SDaXlujYEtipLDVN9DS2s4Ynvij4369BTaldpzbdRkAyw9AANKY99weoIjzfqKy1rGr77vLHfRkIZFS0uce6krPhnWMQRKE/s400/metal.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Christina explains the origin of this piece:<br /><blockquote>"The tattoo is from the front cover of a vintage <a href="http://www.heavymetal.com/">Heavy Metal</a> comic book my ex-boyfriend used to have. The sleeve was adapted from the drawing by Avelino Avilia at <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/spirits-in-the-flesh-tattoo-studio-san-francisco">Spirits in the Flesh Tattoo Studio</a> in San Francisco. I had the work done in 1997. There was no deep meaning behind it. I simply found the original image aesthetically pleasing."</blockquote>What follows is Christina's poem "Charity, " which, she says, "was supposed to be published in [another magazine] this year, but they fell off the face of the earth." Their loss is our gain, I say, and they haven't responded to her queries about the poem, so this would mark it's first publication, I believe.<br /><br /><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Charity</b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This person who requires</div><div class="MsoNormal">very little of me</div><div class="MsoNormal">wrecks the neighborhood</div><div class="MsoNormal">in spirits and crushed feathers                </div><div class="MsoNormal">I wheedle the ajar door</div><div class="MsoNormal">just give a push</div><div class="MsoNormal">and enjoy the feel of it giving</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Let loose on the night</div><div class="MsoNormal">with you clawing behind me</div><div class="MsoNormal">feral, whip-tailed, gentle man</div><div class="MsoNormal">a shriek of rubber on wet pavement</div><div class="MsoNormal">and questions</div><div class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">so many questions</i></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I feel two things:</div><div class="MsoNormal">the smoky grit of the upholstery &</div><div class="MsoNormal">the constellation of insects in my veins</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Lust is the arch of the moon</div><div class="MsoNormal">in the stomach of a middle-aged woman</div><div class="MsoNormal">perverse and sterile,</div><div class="MsoNormal">a sprinkling of glass and lacquer</div><div class="MsoNormal">from a childhood memory</div><div class="MsoNormal">of dark sex and rage</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I keep hearing you talk to me</div><div class="MsoNormal">It sounds like a sugar cube</div><div class="MsoNormal">muddled in brandy</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;"> ~ ~ ~</div><br />Christina Continelli is a poet, fiction writer, and essayist. She cut her poetry teeth in the San Diego spoken word scene. In 2004 she moved to Oakland, California to attend the MFA program at <a href="http://www.cca.edu/">California College of the Arts</a>. Her work has appeared in <a href="http://www.pw.org/content/good_foot">Goodfoot Magazine</a>, <a href="http://www.slicemagazine.org/">Slice</a>, <a href="http://www.asu.edu/pipercwcenter/how2journal/">How2</a>,  and <a href="http://www.mondaynightlit.com/index.html">Monday Night Lit</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Christina for sharing her poem and tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">~<br /></span></div><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: x-small;">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 </span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><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: Christina Continelli

Today's tattoo comes to us from poet Christina Continelli. This is part of the lower half of her arm sleeve: Christina explains the orig...

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