Tattoo Design: States

The Tattooed Poets Project: David Jonathan Newman

Today's tattooed poet is <a href="http://captainselfdestruct.blogspot.com/">David Jonathan Newman</a>, who sent along this photo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXEt-rCdqjEEHu8LlsVA7lG-10SECs6pMvfG_gdKdEZCdnaSJ9T0-rLYrrfKjbfoesSyr_8k33nXhCxRPezNOpeETBKYdN7YlVyK-A3ZhxzMJ6dNktifqWRuDKp4vM5RnN8UrDLUA0L_M/s1600/bitter+end+rotate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXEt-rCdqjEEHu8LlsVA7lG-10SECs6pMvfG_gdKdEZCdnaSJ9T0-rLYrrfKjbfoesSyr_8k33nXhCxRPezNOpeETBKYdN7YlVyK-A3ZhxzMJ6dNktifqWRuDKp4vM5RnN8UrDLUA0L_M/s640/bitter+end+rotate.jpg" width="346" /></a></div><br />Dave explains:<br /><blockquote>"The tattoo is fairly literal; the state of Florida is burning, with the  words "Til The Bitter End" aside it.  I moved to Miami for 4 years to  pursue a relationship, and saw it out to its unfortunate conclusion.  The tattoo is born out of that experience, and I got it to help me put a  finishing stamp on what happened there and what brought me back to Long  Island.  None of us are perfect, but we can become stronger people if  we have reminders of our mistakes and put them to good use to make sure  they don't happen again.  This piece, along with most of the work on my  body, was done by <a href="http://www.koutsistattoo.com/">Chris Koutsis</a> of <a href="http://www.davincitattoo.com/">Da Vinci Tattoo Studio</a> in Wantagh NY.  I told  him exactly what I had in mind, and between my ideas and his talents I  was very happy with the outcome." </blockquote>The following is my favorite of the several poems David sent me to choose from:<br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: small;">hello, atmosphere.</span></b><br /><br />I keep the eyes of a rapist in a jar by my bed<br />walk lightly<br />for that part of the room is glass<br />modern-day sorcerer, am I<br />blueprints and otherworldly photographs in my drawers<br />beakers and tubes filled with dust<br />the cold makes it feel like home<br />and when the mirror talks to me, it only says<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"I will wrap you in a sheet before this night is done."</span><br />well so says you, my sweet, but look what you've become<br />all my furniture, ghosts<br />rooms rife with other lives<br />no doors<br />my paintings are stolen from churches and are hanging backwards and are numbered one to infinity. <br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"> ~ ~ ~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>David Jonathan Newman has been a poet and vocalist/lyricist in bands,  both on Long Island, NY and in Miami, FL.  He currently is working on a  collection of poetry, writes music as a solo artist and has a blog (<a href="http://captainselfdestruct.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">http://captainselfdestruct.<wbr></wbr>blogspot.com</a>)  where he posts both his solid works and stream of consciousness ideas.   He's been winning poetry contests since 6th grade, and the poem above, "Hello,  Atmosphere" won a writing contest at the <a href="http://www.oldwestbury.edu/">SUNY College Of Old Westbury</a>  which was featured in <i>Harmonia</i>, their on-campus writing publication.<br /><br />Thanks to David for sharing his tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br />  <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: David Jonathan Newman

Today's tattooed poet is David Jonathan Newman , who sent along this photo: Dave explains: "The tattoo is fairly literal; the state...

2:51 AM

Home is Where the Star Is

Yesterday in Penn Station, I met Jonathan, whose one tattoo caught my eye when I passed him in the Amtrak waiting area.<br /><br />Except, sometimes, a fragment of a tattoo doesn't necessarily reveal the whole piece. As in Jonathan's case, I saw the back of his arm, and this segment, which resembled (to me, at the time), a crude figure with the beginning of a speech bubble emanating from its mouth:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjrK4LDF7r3y8D13oRWtu02mwNgMj2WjmT0s4D0T_hyphenhypheneoNnGC8RUWLiIAlHMVdYFLb71T1aC8FfxXlqvaZevt9U2X6-9pXC2b01rNw9MLhl5QivAtD87O_WOkH7IoOUg4mmjeFmAb5bs/s1600/ny+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigjrK4LDF7r3y8D13oRWtu02mwNgMj2WjmT0s4D0T_hyphenhypheneoNnGC8RUWLiIAlHMVdYFLb71T1aC8FfxXlqvaZevt9U2X6-9pXC2b01rNw9MLhl5QivAtD87O_WOkH7IoOUg4mmjeFmAb5bs/s320/ny+detail.jpg" width="187" /></a></div><br />I felt rather silly, however, when Jonathan agreed to participate and showed me the full tattoo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM50n4_Dxgnk0svBCUd1FrdVERu7Qe5Uy2MdwH2na_YO-BB7XDOtibRf5rgG-qoZJRR-M1nYG3JWdWXv_GN4VlBbbpZQUaRWjtb7LawvRzguNCxVRIVV3q-uPKiGdkX_16So7tgLh443Y/s1600/ny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM50n4_Dxgnk0svBCUd1FrdVERu7Qe5Uy2MdwH2na_YO-BB7XDOtibRf5rgG-qoZJRR-M1nYG3JWdWXv_GN4VlBbbpZQUaRWjtb7LawvRzguNCxVRIVV3q-uPKiGdkX_16So7tgLh443Y/s400/ny.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The figure I imagined, of course, is really Long Island, and the balloon was the southern tip of the state of New York.<br /><br />Jonathan explained that he is from Rochester, marked on the tattoo with a star, and that he lived in the same house growing up there for eighteen years. It's a New York state of mind, indeed.<br /><br />The tattoo was done at <a href="http://www.myspace.com/bigjoestattoo">Big Joe & Sons Tattooing</a> in White Plains, New York.<br /><br />Thanks to Jonathan for sharing his stately tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday.</span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: xx-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>

Home is Where the Star Is

Yesterday in Penn Station, I met Jonathan, whose one tattoo caught my eye when I passed him in the Amtrak waiting area. Except, sometimes, a...

3:00 AM

Tattoo Design

The Tattooed Poets Project: David Jonathan Newman

Home is Where the Star Is

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