The Tattooed Poets Project: Jared Singer

<a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/04/tattooed-poets-project-elliott-d-smith.html">Yesterday</a>, we enjoyed the tattoos and poetry of <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2011/04/tattooed-poets-project-elliott-d-smith.html">Elliott D. Smith</a>. Today, we get to check out the work of his roommate, Jared Singer.<br /><br />I met Jared, along with Justin, last month at the Barnes & Noble flagship store. Like Elliott, Jared's tattoo is a work "in progress" inked by the incomparable <a href="http://www.1228tattoo.com/artists/">Joy Rumore</a> at <a href="http://www.1228tattoo.com/">Twelve 28 Tattoo</a> in Brooklyn.<br /><br />Check out Jared's upper right arm:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT2SdsCjLOv3p1YUH15hej8vnTM8jKsCP1-tQ3LEwmMrxFlirIglYSdtu7Iu1CdTzTiz7_koYdhd6Ek4rhgo_D47TRXdc2A9Cp7tATAX1DZiVB6wOYvwrnpseW6YsrtnFXTkD4qiqPTfk/s1600/Jared+detail.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT2SdsCjLOv3p1YUH15hej8vnTM8jKsCP1-tQ3LEwmMrxFlirIglYSdtu7Iu1CdTzTiz7_koYdhd6Ek4rhgo_D47TRXdc2A9Cp7tATAX1DZiVB6wOYvwrnpseW6YsrtnFXTkD4qiqPTfk/s640/Jared+detail.jpg" width="436" /></a></div><br />Jared explained that this tattoo has two origins. First, it was inspired by lyrics from a group called <a href="http://legendarymusic.net/">Living Legends</a>. More specifically, the words "I'm so fly, even my shadow has its own friends."<br /><br />The other motif in this piece comes from the lyrics in "9-5ers Anthem," by <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Aesop-Rock/104163806285550?ref=ts">Aesop Rock</a>, that proclaim, "I tend to underestimate my own average."<br /><br />Jared says he originally conceived of the piece consisting of "shadows with other shadows". Joy drew up the design and said, "How about this instead?"<br /><br />The rest is history. Well, sort of. As mentioned at the top of the post, this sleeve-to-be is still a work in progress.<br /><br />Jared shared this poem with us: <br /><br /><br /><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Last Love Letter from an Entomologist</b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Dear Samantha,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I’m sorry, we have to get a divorce.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I know that seems like an odd way </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">to start a love letter, but let me explain.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Its not you,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">it’s definitely not me,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">it’s just, human beings don’t love </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">as well as insects do.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I love you far too much to let what we have </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">be ruined by the failings of our species.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">So instead,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I’m going to leave you now,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">while I can still remember you fondly.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I saw the way you looked at the waiter last night,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I know you would never do anything,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">you never do, but still I </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">saw the way you looked at the waiter last night.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Did you know that when a female fly </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">accepts the pheromones put off by a male</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">It rewrites the way her brain works, </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">destroys the receptors for pheromones.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Sensing the change, the male fly does the same.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">When flies love each other,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">they do it so hard,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">that they can never love anything else ever again.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">if either one dies before procreation</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">both sets of genetic code are lost forever.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Now that is dedication.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">After breaking up with Elizabeth</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">we spent three days dividing</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">everything we had bought together</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">like if I knew which pots were mine,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">like if I knew which drapes were mine,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">the pain would go away.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">When two praying mantises mate,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">the nervous system of the male</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">begins to shut down.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">While he still has control over his motor functions,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">he flips onto his back</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">exposing his soft underbelly to his lover like a gift.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">She then proceeds to lovingly</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">and I do mean lovingly</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"> dice him into tiny pieces</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">which she  shoves carefully into mouth</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">wasting not a single morsel,</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">even the exoskeleton must go.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">She does this so that </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">so that when their children are born</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">she has a first meal to regurgitate to feed them.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Now that is dedication.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I could never do that for you.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">So I have a new plan.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I plan on spending the rest of my life committing petty injustices.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I will jaywalk at every opportunity</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I will steal things I could easily afford</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I will be rude to strangers</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I hope you will do the same.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I hope reincarnation is real.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">I hope that these petty crimes cause me to be reborn as a lesser creature.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6058251288236499429&postID=8493457638909191833" name="_GoBack"></a>I hope we are reborn as flies.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">So that we can love each other as hard as we were meant to.</div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">~ ~ ~ </div>We also have the good fortune of having video of Jared performing this piece at the <a href="http://www.bowerypoetry.com/">Bowery Poetry Club</a> in 2009:<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="294" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/B3wsSdPzAuQ" title="YouTube video player" width="469"></iframe><br /><br />Jared Singer is a poet and audio engineer who lives in New York City. While he may have physically grown up with his peers, he has never forgotten the imagination, magic, and nerdiness that were corner stones of his childhood. He hopes to remind others of these more creative times. He has been published by <a href="http://www.downdirtyword.com/">The Legendary</a>, <a href="http://unionstationmag.com/">Union Station Magazine</a>, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/swappoetry">The Spoken Word Almanac Project 2010</a> and has also appeared on the <a href="http://www.indiefeedpp.libsyn.com/">Indiefeed Peformance Poetry</a> Podcast. He is the<a href="http://original.bowerypoetry.com/urbana/"> NYC Urbana</a> 2009 Grand Slam Poetry Champion, The 2009 NYC <a href="http://www.louderarts.com/">Louder Arts</a> Individual World Poetry Slam representative and a member of the 2010 <a href="http://www.nuyorican.org/poetryslam.php">Nuyorican Poets Cafe Poetry Slam Team.</a><br /><br />Much thanks and appreciation to Jared for sharing his work with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman";}</style> <![endif]--> <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: Jared Singer

Yesterday , we enjoyed the tattoos and poetry of Elliott D. Smith . Today, we get to check out the work of his roommate, Jared Singer. I me...

Read more »

The Tattooed Poets Project: Elliott D. Smith

I met Elliott D. Smith at the Union Square Barnes & Noble last month and took pictures of his tattoos for The Tattooed Poets Project. I also met his roommate Jared, whose work will appear here tomorrow.<br /><br />Elliott has quite a bit of work, including a sleeve-in-progress, which is being constructed by the wonderfully talented <a href="https://profiles.google.com/the.milkmaid/about">Joy Rumore</a> at <a href="http://www.1228tattoo.com/">Twelve 28 Tattoo</a> in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.<br /><br />Check out this composite of Elliott's right arm:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rNd-iSvxzQRcvaiJzO9uw84njHpQ5NdkppeoyYdIKU5X-Ul41uknjhqzC6wLlscSdQZAoucmQ3bqGDPt4Rdw4aVl5dUuQbXiW22OpHjLum9SZbfhgq2dzPRZOznzd-Et8anAfzMkF58/s1600/elliot+smith+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rNd-iSvxzQRcvaiJzO9uw84njHpQ5NdkppeoyYdIKU5X-Ul41uknjhqzC6wLlscSdQZAoucmQ3bqGDPt4Rdw4aVl5dUuQbXiW22OpHjLum9SZbfhgq2dzPRZOznzd-Et8anAfzMkF58/s400/elliot+smith+collage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />This still-incomplete tattoo is part of a sleeve based on a mural at the Morgan Street stop on the L train in Brooklyn.<br /><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/AVvXsEhb9FkQJk3qrCJrLweBOgmBnVRTHbdSTRC_pR6KaYfFM0b_fGGjM1-7OySsC2Z4lPS1humThCL_wLjrWlLcKwGzm6SaU_bHFCIEXcbmxIQytFpu_G5_vCuhGd7CjrUQu1_w-e03hhYZUbQ/s1600/mag.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb9FkQJk3qrCJrLweBOgmBnVRTHbdSTRC_pR6KaYfFM0b_fGGjM1-7OySsC2Z4lPS1humThCL_wLjrWlLcKwGzm6SaU_bHFCIEXcbmxIQytFpu_G5_vCuhGd7CjrUQu1_w-e03hhYZUbQ/s400/mag.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Elliott D. Smith</td></tr></tbody></table><br />The sleeve has the Alice in Wonderland figure at its center, but a lot of other images, like the banana as well. Elliott pointed out in the photo above that the banana (lower right corner) is much smaller. For the purpose of the art of the tattoo sleeve, its scale has been increased significantly.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi183k2-q7oAzxok38bJOeXS53_61VQ7Ic5bwhZepHi50iIEf4HwiQY6pOve9qbTPSQK_GTZ54kpnhvO95_1uk1-vHV4kAOX_vt10nAy45QUnFsqqhBpJ7GCwPRm9jhPvpIcSBdHLfbMto/s1600/Banana.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi183k2-q7oAzxok38bJOeXS53_61VQ7Ic5bwhZepHi50iIEf4HwiQY6pOve9qbTPSQK_GTZ54kpnhvO95_1uk1-vHV4kAOX_vt10nAy45QUnFsqqhBpJ7GCwPRm9jhPvpIcSBdHLfbMto/s640/Banana.jpg" width="306" /></a></div><br />Elliott added that he visually enjoys the image of the mural, and his "own little Alice in Wonderland dream land" is slowly taking shape on his flesh.<br /><br />Also on his right arm with the sleeve is this quote from "<i>The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action</i>," by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audre_Lorde">Audre Lourde</a>:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAG9h4jNhWA7IVV9Ey0O0SrCvPU70a3j3yHHoSUztD8pG06900tVuHqqUCojSaW5C3GdOfX_icfmEaR4j_8MeCB1Dq-eMlXEcqFOsJJZtYQ3__0QSCVIjm7csJAyZx5cA4qt_JIfVXCdw/s1600/forearm+quote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAG9h4jNhWA7IVV9Ey0O0SrCvPU70a3j3yHHoSUztD8pG06900tVuHqqUCojSaW5C3GdOfX_icfmEaR4j_8MeCB1Dq-eMlXEcqFOsJJZtYQ3__0QSCVIjm7csJAyZx5cA4qt_JIfVXCdw/s400/forearm+quote.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The quote is "I am not only a casualty, I am also a warrior."<br /><br />There are times when a writer's words resonate so loudly in your ears, they shake you to your core. Elliott told me that he "read it [these lines] one day and the next day got the tattoo."<br /><br />He offered up this interpretation of the line: "it's easy to think of yourself as victim," he said, but succeeding in life is about "surviving and fighting through victimhood".<br /><br />Elliott also has these words on his outer wrists:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxx7QeMzxWk20OPtWfIQEyMksL5ymziW62anIQHDBlyMiLpm9jY2MQPUcuQFx7sYO_eC90XOEQAz-fG_3PNVAHYFHQpZlWonKLoEXZjOgcKCOFshOeV7GtgNK0CnzD5-AEr939Y_ESFLs/s1600/Freedom+Poet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxx7QeMzxWk20OPtWfIQEyMksL5ymziW62anIQHDBlyMiLpm9jY2MQPUcuQFx7sYO_eC90XOEQAz-fG_3PNVAHYFHQpZlWonKLoEXZjOgcKCOFshOeV7GtgNK0CnzD5-AEr939Y_ESFLs/s400/Freedom+Poet.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />This is the third poet this month with "poet" inked on his or her flesh. However, the combination of "freedom poet" adds another dimension to the corporeal text.<br /><br />This was a "spur of the moment" tattoo, Elliott told me, elaborating that aside from the obvious "poet," he is "holding freedom in his hand and facing out".<br /><br />Finally, we don't get a lot of lower back tattoos here on Tattoosday, but when we do, they are extraordinary:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7haEjmwRr_ClIHGlAV7dKHmZm3M2tn5f9uAzMwGZmpNKw8J2FbZ6F-S4bOoE5Eh5Mb6r6iDrYRXTL2QPid2g-Zadud8jXGUcplfLaQqbeO1r3b7azay3Pk3UbjvBW8lWsX7b-bySKCqk/s1600/City+Lower+Back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7haEjmwRr_ClIHGlAV7dKHmZm3M2tn5f9uAzMwGZmpNKw8J2FbZ6F-S4bOoE5Eh5Mb6r6iDrYRXTL2QPid2g-Zadud8jXGUcplfLaQqbeO1r3b7azay3Pk3UbjvBW8lWsX7b-bySKCqk/s400/City+Lower+Back.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />Elliott took a couple of photos into Joy and she crafted this design. The concept is a spin on the "power to the people" idea, but with an emphasis on urban people. "Most Americans live in cities," he explained, "but [they] don't have power". This is a spin on the frustration that many feel, that the values of the citizenry of the American cities are not represented by the government.<br /><br />As for poetry, Elliott offered us this work:<br /><br /><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal">EARNING STRIPES</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I own thirteen striped shirts.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I have known the misfortune of wearing lines on skin,</div><div class="MsoNormal">stretch marks and self-hate carve flesh in convincing fashion.</div><div class="MsoNormal">No lover has ever asked me why</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I have known the misfortune of wearing lines on skin,</div><div class="MsoNormal">razor blade reminders tattoo thighs with teenage dreams.</div><div class="MsoNormal">No lover has ever asked me why</div><div class="MsoNormal">it was so easy to steal from myself.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Razor blade reminders tattoo thighs with teenage dreams,</div><div class="MsoNormal">this belly, a thanksgiving turkey for carving-- </div><div class="MsoNormal">it was so easy to steal from myself</div><div class="MsoNormal">when I didn’t believe I had anything to give.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">This belly, a thanksgiving turkey for carving.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Sliced up white meat</div><div class="MsoNormal">when I didn’t believe I had anything to give.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Mother doesn’t know there’s blood on the stairs.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Sliced up white meat,</div><div class="MsoNormal">stretch marks and self-hate carve flesh in convincing fashion.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Mother doesn’t know there’s blood on the stairs.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I own thirteen striped shirts.</div></blockquote><div style="text-align: center;">~ ~ ~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Elliott D. Smith reps Louisville, Cincinnati, and Brooklyn. When he's not  working with formerly incarcerated people or conducting research on masculinity, he drinks whiskey and talks too loudly. He believes in the power of tattoos, reference books, and matching music with the weather.<br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />Thanks to Elliott for sharing his ink and his poetry here with us on Tattoosday!</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="MsoNormal"><br /><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><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div></div>

The Tattooed Poets Project: Elliott D. Smith

I met Elliott D. Smith at the Union Square Barnes & Noble last month and took pictures of his tattoos for The Tattooed Poets Project. I...

Read more »

Rilke On the Flesh

It's February 1, which means we are only two months away from the start of a new edition of <a href="http://tattooedpoets.blogspot.com/2010/03/index-of-tattooed-poets.html">The Tattooed Poets Project,</a> and I have begun assembling the first posts for this annual extravaganza.<br /><br />What better way to acknowledge this looming event, but to post a poetic tattoo?<br /><br />The following piece is one that I spotted at the end of last summer on Penn Plaza. Belonging to a young lady named Rosa, it has been one of my few remaining 2010 leftovers:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-U4ZuQdr-MF7GphTQmrVROovGgMIAg9qqLyqtCrxd9U-cD76q5C6sPtILiTrHfMogmiCgwYU5vFHMnApgEAs_iqU6LTTNJqRiGafCxMZp_Rnn_2N6fKa1mnIxG8X-vyAuymiyz6fEjr8/s1600/rilke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-U4ZuQdr-MF7GphTQmrVROovGgMIAg9qqLyqtCrxd9U-cD76q5C6sPtILiTrHfMogmiCgwYU5vFHMnApgEAs_iqU6LTTNJqRiGafCxMZp_Rnn_2N6fKa1mnIxG8X-vyAuymiyz6fEjr8/s400/rilke.jpg" width="343" /></a></div><br /><br />What I noticed first was not that this was a line of verse, but that it was placed on the body in an unusual way. Most lines of poetry, when manifested on flesh, are on the arms and wrist, or the lower legs and occasionally a back. This tattoo runs from the front of to her back, vertically climbing and descending from her shoulder.<br /><br />The line is in German, and represents a piece from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainer_Maria_Rilke">Rainier Maria Rilke's</a> <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duino_Elegies">Duino Elegies</a></i>.<br /><br /><blockquote><b>Ein jeder Engel ist schrecklich</b></blockquote><br />Or, in context: <br /><blockquote><i>Who, if I cried out, would hear me among the angels’<br />Hierarchies? and even if one of them pressed me<br />suddenly against his heart: I would be consumed<br />in that overwhelming existence. For beauty is nothing<br />but the beginning of terror, which we still are just able to endure,<br />and we are so awed because it serenely disdains<br />to annihilate us. Every angel is terrifying.</i> <i><br /></i></blockquote> Those are the opening lines of the first elegy, translated by <a href="http://www.stephenmitchellbooks.com/transAdapt/poetryRilkeExcerpt03.html">Stephen Mitchell</a>.<br /><br />Rosa didn't give me much insight as to why she had the line tattooed, but it is quite a powerful statement.<br /><br />When I asked her who the artists was, she replied only that it was someone in Brooklyn that went under the name "The Milk Maid". This sounded familiar at the time, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Of course, I came to be reminded that The Milk Maid is the moniker of Joy Rumore, at <a href="http://www.1228tattoo.com/">Twelve 28 Tattoo</a>, quite a wonderful artist, whose work has appeared previously on Tattoosday <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/search/label/Twelve%2028%20Tattoo">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Rosa for sharing this lovely line of verse with us here on Tattoosday!

Rilke On the Flesh

It's February 1, which means we are only two months away from the start of a new edition of The Tattooed Poets Project, and I have begu...

Read more »

Renee's Feathered Serpent

I was walking down 31st Street in Manhattan when a woman walked by with a hummingbird and flower on her left shoulder. I turned back to talk to her and I was stunned to see a bright colorful tattoo spanning the top of her back> I called after her and had a nice chat.<br /><br />To my delight, Renee was my familiar with the site, as her artist, <a href="http://1228tattoo.blogspot.com/">Joy Rumore</a>, had just been featured on Tattoosday <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2010/06/kats-mucha-tattoo-with-nod-to-lemony.html">here</a>. Taking a photo of the tattoo in question was not possible due to the presence of clothing covering sections of it, but I gave Renee my card and asked her to keep in touch. However, after a few messages on Twitter, not only did I have the link to photos of the tattoo from the artist's blog, I also had an open dialogue with Renee, who explained the tattoo for me.<br /><br />As Joy says on her original post <a href="http://1228tattoo.blogspot.com/2010/01/all-hail-mighty-kukulcan.html">here</a>, "All hail the mighty <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukulkan">Kukulcan</a>!":<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOeAPmYFWujSgOHgAFPw5Ndt1N7wKid_Ay0_wzWo6jNgVY7sY4mGfrCtaenWgyHBNuIPjGU_j2uS2w6v5VIKoBGMZWU13M9DaXubQy9f0FwaHeLOaNH_gHsTS1mWFVgp-iWsctYbZ/s1600/Kukulcan+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYOeAPmYFWujSgOHgAFPw5Ndt1N7wKid_Ay0_wzWo6jNgVY7sY4mGfrCtaenWgyHBNuIPjGU_j2uS2w6v5VIKoBGMZWU13M9DaXubQy9f0FwaHeLOaNH_gHsTS1mWFVgp-iWsctYbZ/s400/Kukulcan+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihZtV1vRVrIOvwrSIuoYDYx6EeIYZocY2tGLX8HWMTA0sQshtNmuey9BRBGspYy2Pg3TphlhFmWlVwX74wg-xoVZ6mhXj-Q1sOQBz8so_Es8cFEQX5qLU0TTz3UDI88sRb5i3TGEO/s1600/Kukulcan+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihZtV1vRVrIOvwrSIuoYDYx6EeIYZocY2tGLX8HWMTA0sQshtNmuey9BRBGspYy2Pg3TphlhFmWlVwX74wg-xoVZ6mhXj-Q1sOQBz8so_Es8cFEQX5qLU0TTz3UDI88sRb5i3TGEO/s400/Kukulcan+4.jpg" width="267" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGjSDS8quuwZakUrNvy30DVfK2-lqk-KZqCKkkSZMoEq1kI8Ac8rMFwdFDYq-eKnZZChzE6q4nHSC92PHu0TZkpeyN_hZ-EyGY2IvjwBGLj63TsKPvUIhF3pnnkQjoJ7FwEGkh5uf/s1600/Kukulcan+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKGjSDS8quuwZakUrNvy30DVfK2-lqk-KZqCKkkSZMoEq1kI8Ac8rMFwdFDYq-eKnZZChzE6q4nHSC92PHu0TZkpeyN_hZ-EyGY2IvjwBGLj63TsKPvUIhF3pnnkQjoJ7FwEGkh5uf/s400/Kukulcan+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRL7_4HgzUOj0H-3uyDiXL0dLOY8-NFtQCMTF-y0ufNNM8IA_rCyeOdc_zZlTu08r9t8epNSWhvvQ5O3fEPpl90SUoB0vSGReGQO0UaUfN3mE1ZODUSHE-pjXn0dlLk6IWReeLzY_Y/s1600/Kukulcan+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRL7_4HgzUOj0H-3uyDiXL0dLOY8-NFtQCMTF-y0ufNNM8IA_rCyeOdc_zZlTu08r9t8epNSWhvvQ5O3fEPpl90SUoB0vSGReGQO0UaUfN3mE1ZODUSHE-pjXn0dlLk6IWReeLzY_Y/s400/Kukulcan+3.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><br /><br />I asked Renee to elaborate on why she got this incredible tattoo across her back. I'll let her words speak for themselves:<br /><blockquote><br />"I got this feathered serpent tattoo when I advanced to candicacy in my doctoral program where I study <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aztec">Aztec</a> art. I think we did it over three or four 90-minute sessions ... The feathered serpent was an old <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerica">Mesoamerican</a> god, a version of which dates back to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olmec">Olmecs</a> (about 400 BCE) and is seen at a number of Mexican sites like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teotihuacan">Teotihuacan</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichen_Itza">Chichen Itza</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tula,_Hidalgo">Tula</a>, and the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Templo_Mayor">Templo Mayor</a> in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_City">Mexico City</a>. The Aztecs called him <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl">Quetzalcoatl</a> which translates from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nahuatl">Nahuatl</a> (their spoken language) into bird-snake. Joy refers to him on her blog as Kukulcan, which is the version that is seen at Chichen Itza in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yucat%C3%A1n">Yucatán</a>.<br /><br />I wanted a tattoo of a feathered serpent because he so relevant to the Aztecs and they took great care in carving beautiful stone images of the animal.  I also knew of Joy's penchant for amazing feather work, and I knew this would be a good match.  I brought Joy a series of images, one from a mural at Teotihuacan, one from a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixtec">Mixtec</a> manuscript and another of an Aztec stone carving of a feathered serpent.  She used those and her knowledge of imagery from the Yucatan to create a more composite image of the god."</blockquote> A huge thanks to Renee and to Joy at <a href="http://www.1228tattoo.com/">Twelve 28 Tattoo</a> for their cooperation in making this post possible!

Renee's Feathered Serpent

I was walking down 31st Street in Manhattan when a woman walked by with a hummingbird and flower on her left shoulder. I turned back to talk...

Read more »

Kat's Mucha Tattoo, With a Twist of Lemony Snicket

At 31st Street and 7th Avenue, I stopped Kat to ask about her ink.<br /><br />She was happy to see me and had been wondering, having previously read Tattoosday and knowing she worked in the same area as I did, if our paths would ever cross.<br /><br />She has seven tattoos (and a cool blog <a href="http://www.katofalltrades.com/">here</a>), but we focused on the large tattoo on her upper right arm:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8bFGbYX2_ttsNhOnp7x_APAcs8YrzS0Kfecvk21sWIWGjgrsbLhqy_PnoXusVb9fWKcKXCrDSiBXwkgPNAKIpP31t3OAf7Va-KfEciA-fP9n5AcPY8iDbX8iOQm35F4wm-3moaAe/s1600/Kat+Sleeve+c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA8bFGbYX2_ttsNhOnp7x_APAcs8YrzS0Kfecvk21sWIWGjgrsbLhqy_PnoXusVb9fWKcKXCrDSiBXwkgPNAKIpP31t3OAf7Va-KfEciA-fP9n5AcPY8iDbX8iOQm35F4wm-3moaAe/s640/Kat+Sleeve+c.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br /> Or, looking at it as a whole:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnz3TXPEU9nY2tF7PJvktFYJrMnF8EGskFt_-Y8rsCx3d6ofOqMFoDEyvBr9zc3xcg0FRCER5aoiQvAfljuhjz38DyFLWE7H-EcmXqAY7caoP41yww62YnR9JPTy3PSg7igYvPMrXa/s1600/Mucha+collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="397" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnz3TXPEU9nY2tF7PJvktFYJrMnF8EGskFt_-Y8rsCx3d6ofOqMFoDEyvBr9zc3xcg0FRCER5aoiQvAfljuhjz38DyFLWE7H-EcmXqAY7caoP41yww62YnR9JPTy3PSg7igYvPMrXa/s400/Mucha+collage.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />The art is based on the work of <a href="http://www.muchafoundation.org/MHome.aspx">Alphonse Mucha</a>, who has inspired a couple of other tattoos appearing previously on Tattoosday <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2009/06/sarah-shoulders-her-slavic-heritage.html">here</a> and <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2009/09/delissa-reveals-little-bit-of-monaco-on.html">here</a>.<br /><br />If that second link looks familiar, it is because both Kat's tattoo and Delissa's are inspired by the same work, "Monaco".<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbV-BkMZcB5SybIAJVlhCt0Xw3S93nVghXFRzviHdN7XQ61y6BeX8mECVto7QkVsAN3JK62ukjgaiuA9o2gTy7cgwaxK7HqYgLCYHpis1otOG8U-PRwPVGZ4JbYR56oXOG5GxEuuJv/s1600/Mucha_Monaco_Monte_Carlo_1897.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbV-BkMZcB5SybIAJVlhCt0Xw3S93nVghXFRzviHdN7XQ61y6BeX8mECVto7QkVsAN3JK62ukjgaiuA9o2gTy7cgwaxK7HqYgLCYHpis1otOG8U-PRwPVGZ4JbYR56oXOG5GxEuuJv/s400/Mucha_Monaco_Monte_Carlo_1897.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><br />Kat's tattoo is interpreted a little differently, translated with brighter colors, which, in Kat's words, were "amped up to be on my arm".<br /><br />The plan is eventually for this tattoo to expand to be a half-sleeve.<br /><br />The phrase "the world is quiet here" is a nod to a motto for a secret organization known as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V.F.D.">V.F.D.</a> in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Wreck-Unfortunate-Events-Books/dp/0061119067?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank"></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Wreck-Unfortunate-Events-Books/dp/0061119067?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">A Series of Unfortunate Events</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0061119067" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=bill03-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0061119067" style="border: medium none ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important;" width="1" />by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemony_Snicket">Lemony Snicket</a>. These books are favorites among Kat's list of much-loved titles.<br /><br />Her work was created by the artist <a href="http://www.google.com/profiles/the.milkmaid#buzz">Joy Rumore</a> at <a href="http://www.1228tattoo.com/">Twelve 28 Tattoo</a> in Brooklyn.<br /><br />Kind thanks to Kat for sharing her work with us here on Tattoosday!

Kat's Mucha Tattoo, With a Twist of Lemony Snicket

At 31st Street and 7th Avenue, I stopped Kat to ask about her ink. She was happy to see me and had been wondering, having previously read Ta...

Read more »