Japanese TATTOO Horimitsu style 龍 手彫り

本日一件目。手彫りの龍。
今度ゆっくり飲みましょうね。(^-^)/

The first of today. Dragon of hand poke style.
Let's drink someday. (^-^)/

El primero de hoy. Dragón de estilo de golpe de mano.

Bebamos algún día. (^ - ^)/

The Tattooed Poets Project: Cody Todd

We are extending the Tattooed Poets Project through the weekend, giving those who have been enjoying the poetic ink, a little bit more to tide them over until next year.

Today we are being visited by an old friend, Cody Todd, whose tattoos appeared here last year.

This is his latest tattoo, four weeks old, inked at Purple Panther Tattoos off of Sunset in Los Angeles:


Cody provided this explanation:

Not too much of a story behind this. It is Marv and Goldie from the "The Hard Goodbye" of Frank Miller's Sin City. The artist who did this is from Tokyo, and her name is Koko Ainai. I admire the precision of her work in copying Miller's extremely elaborate sketching. As Marv and Goldie embrace, he is holding a gun he apparently took away from her and a bullet hole is smoldering in his right shoulder as he lifts her off the ground. That tattoo is the first of what is going to be a kind of sleeve in parts in which I take different scenes from noir films or works and decorate my whole left arm with. Upon seeing Farewell My Lovely with my girlfriend last week, I decided to get the front end of a 1934 or 1936 Buick as my next tattoo.

...I am doing my critical work for my PhD at USC on the "western noir," which is a term I sort of coined for a specific genre of film and literature concerned with elements that typically comprise classical film noir, except they take place in cities in the western part of the United States. As we see in the film, Sin City, it has a "Gothic City" feel to it, but it is most certainly somewhere out in western Nevada, or California. I think the motifs of lawlessness, street and vigilante justice, and the disillusionment with the American Dream are all at work in this kind of genre, and that it also borrows many elements from the Western as a genre as well. If anyone wants to read good literary western noir, I would direct them, promptly, to read Daniel Woodrell, who takes the noir theme and brings it to the Ozarks and southwest Missouri. If Chandler and Faulkner had a love-child, it most certainly would be Woodrell.

Head over to BillyBlog and read one of Cody's poems here.

Cody Todd is the author of the chapbook, To Frankenstein, My Father (2007, Proem Press). His poems have appeared in Hunger Mountain, Salt Hill and are forthcoming in Lake Effect, The Pinch, Specs Journal and Denver Quarterly. He received an MFA from Western Michigan University and is currently a Virginia Middleton Fellow in the PhD program in English-Literature/Creative Writing at the University of Southern California. He is the Managing Editor and co-creator of the poetry journal, The Offending Adam (www.theoffendingadam.com).

The Tattooed Poets Project: Cody Todd

We are extending the Tattooed Poets Project through the weekend, giving those who have been enjoying the poetic ink, a little bit more to tide them over until next year.

Today we are being visited by an old friend, Cody Todd, whose tattoos appeared here last year.

This is his latest tattoo, four weeks old, inked at Purple Panther Tattoos off of Sunset in Los Angeles:


Cody provided this explanation:

Not too much of a story behind this. It is Marv and Goldie from the "The Hard Goodbye" of Frank Miller's Sin City. The artist who did this is from Tokyo, and her name is Koko Ainai. I admire the precision of her work in copying Miller's extremely elaborate sketching. As Marv and Goldie embrace, he is holding a gun he apparently took away from her and a bullet hole is smoldering in his right shoulder as he lifts her off the ground. That tattoo is the first of what is going to be a kind of sleeve in parts in which I take different scenes from noir films or works and decorate my whole left arm with. Upon seeing Farewell My Lovely with my girlfriend last week, I decided to get the front end of a 1934 or 1936 Buick as my next tattoo.

...I am doing my critical work for my PhD at USC on the "western noir," which is a term I sort of coined for a specific genre of film and literature concerned with elements that typically comprise classical film noir, except they take place in cities in the western part of the United States. As we see in the film, Sin City, it has a "Gothic City" feel to it, but it is most certainly somewhere out in western Nevada, or California. I think the motifs of lawlessness, street and vigilante justice, and the disillusionment with the American Dream are all at work in this kind of genre, and that it also borrows many elements from the Western as a genre as well. If anyone wants to read good literary western noir, I would direct them, promptly, to read Daniel Woodrell, who takes the noir theme and brings it to the Ozarks and southwest Missouri. If Chandler and Faulkner had a love-child, it most certainly would be Woodrell.

Head over to BillyBlog and read one of Cody's poems here.

Cody Todd is the author of the chapbook, To Frankenstein, My Father (2007, Proem Press). His poems have appeared in Hunger Mountain, Salt Hill and are forthcoming in Lake Effect, The Pinch, Specs Journal and Denver Quarterly. He received an MFA from Western Michigan University and is currently a Virginia Middleton Fellow in the PhD program in English-Literature/Creative Writing at the University of Southern California. He is the Managing Editor and co-creator of the poetry journal, The Offending Adam (www.theoffendingadam.com).

Japanese TATTOO Horimitsu style レイアウト刷新

私が利用しているブロガーの機能が新しくなったことに伴ってのレイアウト刷新。
機能がアップしてます。ものすごく・・・(^-^）。

写真に細かい説明ができるので尚一層面白くご覧いただけると思います。

見易さに特化していこうと思います。これからもよろしくです。

どくろみたいな鯉を見つけました。Skull fish!!

Claudia Vaz, desenho animado, 195

"Mais uma vez venho participar desta coluna com uma nova tattoo. Como todas as 7 tattoos essa também tem uma história. Como já contei para vocês sempre pesquiso muito antes de fazer uma tatoo pois acho que além de uma arte, tem que ter um significado, se tatuar por tauar naum rola.

Quando era pequena assistia um desenho que retratava uma tribo indígena protegida por animais que ficavam em forma de estátua de madeira no centro da aldeia, no qual os espíritos saim dela sempre que surgia um perigo eminente aos moradores desta aldeia. Por ser Técnica Ambiental e me identificar com a natureza, uni o útil ao agradável tatuando animais. No Xamanismo, que é um ritual a mãe terra o totem do urso (como é chamado), cada animal tem um significado. No meu totem, o urso é o personagem principal, seguido de um alce, um guaxinin, um puma e um lobo. Espero que gostem!!!"

Claudia Vaz

Claudia Vaz, desenho animado, 195

"Mais uma vez venho participar desta coluna com uma nova tattoo. Como todas as 7 tattoos essa também tem uma história. Como já contei para vocês sempre pesquiso muito antes de fazer uma tatoo pois acho que além de uma arte, tem que ter um significado, se tatuar por tauar naum rola.

Quando era pequena assistia um desenho que retratava uma tribo indígena protegida por animais que ficavam em forma de estátua de madeira no centro da aldeia, no qual os espíritos saim dela sempre que surgia um perigo eminente aos moradores desta aldeia. Por ser Técnica Ambiental e me identificar com a natureza, uni o útil ao agradável tatuando animais. No Xamanismo, que é um ritual a mãe terra o totem do urso (como é chamado), cada animal tem um significado. No meu totem, o urso é o personagem principal, seguido de um alce, um guaxinin, um puma e um lobo. Espero que gostem!!!"

Claudia Vaz

鯉：Carp

Posted by 彫倭 Akilla a.k.a. Horiyamato

傷が治りしばらくするときれいなグラデーションが出てきます。

彫倭

It will be smooth gradation after about 10 days.

Akilla a.k.a. Horiyamato.

Japanese TATTOO Horimitsu style 風神

本日三件目。
台湾のお客様。
風神。上の雷神に合わせて。
で、本日終了。

The third of today.
Customer in Taiwan.
God of Wind. According to God Of Thunder above.
and today's end.

El tercio de hoy.
Cliente en Taiwán.
Dios de Viento. Según Dios De Trueno sobre. y el fin de hoy.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Jozi Tatham

Today's tattoo (and remember folks, we're continuing through May 2!) belongs to Jozi Tatham, who was referred to us by the Milwaukee Poet Laureate, Brenda Cárdenas (thanks Brenda!).

Her tattoo is certainly amazing:


Jozi had this tattoo done by Steve Bossler, who owns Greenseed Studios in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She had met him originally at Papes Blue Ribbon Tattoo in Milwaukee. Steve splits his time between the two locations.

Jozi explains the inspiration behind this tattoo:

I have wanted this back tattoo for years now. Where the Wild Things Are was my favorite book growing up. Because I have since become a writer, it's extremely important to me to remember the childhood imagination and creativity that we are all born with, but which we often "outgrow". I refuse to grow up and let my imagination slip away, and hopefully having the monsters of creativity tattooed on my body will keep that close to me.

Please check out one of Jozi's poems over on BillyBlog here.

Jozi Tatham is currently a poetry MFA student at George Mason University in Virginia. She hails from Milwaukee, WI where she received her BA and the place which serves as "the inspiration for most of my being thus far." She has been published in newspapers and small publications in the Milwaukee area for poetry and nonfiction.

Thanks to Jozi for sharing with us here at Tattoosday!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Jozi Tatham

Today's tattoo (and remember folks, we're continuing through May 2!) belongs to Jozi Tatham, who was referred to us by the Milwaukee Poet Laureate, Brenda Cárdenas (thanks Brenda!).

Her tattoo is certainly amazing:


Jozi had this tattoo done by Steve Bossler, who owns Greenseed Studios in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. She had met him originally at Papes Blue Ribbon Tattoo in Milwaukee. Steve splits his time between the two locations.

Jozi explains the inspiration behind this tattoo:

I have wanted this back tattoo for years now. Where the Wild Things Are was my favorite book growing up. Because I have since become a writer, it's extremely important to me to remember the childhood imagination and creativity that we are all born with, but which we often "outgrow". I refuse to grow up and let my imagination slip away, and hopefully having the monsters of creativity tattooed on my body will keep that close to me.

Please check out one of Jozi's poems over on BillyBlog here.

Jozi Tatham is currently a poetry MFA student at George Mason University in Virginia. She hails from Milwaukee, WI where she received her BA and the place which serves as "the inspiration for most of my being thus far." She has been published in newspapers and small publications in the Milwaukee area for poetry and nonfiction.

Thanks to Jozi for sharing with us here at Tattoosday!

Japanese TATTOO Horimitsu style 金魚

で、行ってきました。(^-^;)
金魚。良い写真はアップしませんよｗ

thus,I went to there.
Gold fish.
I don't up good photos:)

así, fui a allí.
El pez de oro.
No renuevo las fotografías buenas:)

Japanese TATTOO Horimitsu style (^-^)

今日は一件目、二件目がお客様の都合によりキャンセルです。
たまにはこういう日もあります。(^-^)
絵を描く時間ができました。
その前にデータインプット。デパートの屋上に金魚を見に行く予定。
一眼もっていくかな。

The 1st and the 2nd are the cancellations according to customer's convenience today.
Time to draw the picture was able to be done.
Data is input ahead of that. It is scheduled to go to the rooftop at the department store to see the goldfish.

Los 1 y los 2 son las cancelaciones según la conveniencia de cliente hoy.
Tiempo para dibujar el cuadro pudo ser hecho.
El datos se entra delante de eso. Se fija para ir a la azotea en el grande almacén para ver la carpa dorada.

Tatuagens de Pedro Martins, Reino Unido

Oi pessoal acho o vosso site bastante bom e é sempre bom podermos contar com a ajuda do próximo, meu nome e Pedro sou Português, de Lisboa mas vivo no Reino Unido, tenho foto de algumas tattoos que fiz. Um abraço para todos os amantes da arte.

Tatuagens de Pedro Martins, Reino Unido

Oi pessoal acho o vosso site bastante bom e é sempre bom podermos contar com a ajuda do próximo, meu nome e Pedro sou Português, de Lisboa mas vivo no Reino Unido, tenho foto de algumas tattoos que fiz. Um abraço para todos os amantes da arte.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Phebe Szatmari

Well I am back in New York and posting this a little later in the day than normal. The good news for those of you enjoying the Tattooed Poets Project is that we will spill over until Sunday, May 2, before resuming our normal activities.

In the mean time, enjoy this amazing tattoo from Phebe Szatmari:

Phebe writes:

Driftwood, for me, symbolizes the worn, the weathered, the old, the beautiful—each piece takes on its own character. My wife and I have a large piece from Richardson Lake in Maine that resembles a leaping elk. Its movement and energy are striking.

I was also inspired by artist Deborah Butterfield who is known for her sculptures of horses (initially created from driftwood before being cast in bronze).

When I found tattoo artist Jason Tyler Grace, I knew that he had the artistic ability to render a realistic image that would also work with the contours of my body. I decided to get my tattoo in order to initiate a new dialog with myself—and because tattoos are hot.

Be sure to check out one of Phebe's poems here.

Phebe Szatmari was working full-time in an office in Manhattan when she learned there was a shortage of poets. She immediately dropped everything and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing and Literature at Stony Brook Southampton.

In her spare time, Phebe freelance edits, teaches writing, volunteers at LIGALY (Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth Center), serves as a judge for teen poetry slams, and practices parkour. Her poems will be published in the forthcoming Writing Outside the Lines 2010 anthology.

Thanks to Phebe for sharing her lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Phebe Szatmari

Well I am back in New York and posting this a little later in the day than normal. The good news for those of you enjoying the Tattooed Poets Project is that we will spill over until Sunday, May 2, before resuming our normal activities.

In the mean time, enjoy this amazing tattoo from Phebe Szatmari:

Phebe writes:

Driftwood, for me, symbolizes the worn, the weathered, the old, the beautiful—each piece takes on its own character. My wife and I have a large piece from Richardson Lake in Maine that resembles a leaping elk. Its movement and energy are striking.

I was also inspired by artist Deborah Butterfield who is known for her sculptures of horses (initially created from driftwood before being cast in bronze).

When I found tattoo artist Jason Tyler Grace, I knew that he had the artistic ability to render a realistic image that would also work with the contours of my body. I decided to get my tattoo in order to initiate a new dialog with myself—and because tattoos are hot.

Be sure to check out one of Phebe's poems here.

Phebe Szatmari was working full-time in an office in Manhattan when she learned there was a shortage of poets. She immediately dropped everything and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing and Literature at Stony Brook Southampton.

In her spare time, Phebe freelance edits, teaches writing, volunteers at LIGALY (Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth Center), serves as a judge for teen poetry slams, and practices parkour. Her poems will be published in the forthcoming Writing Outside the Lines 2010 anthology.

Thanks to Phebe for sharing her lovely tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Japanese TATTOO Horimitsu style 桃太郎

本日一件のみ。
桃太郎の鬼退治。

Only one today.
Momotaro's demon extermination.

Único hoy.
El exterminio del demonio de Momotaro.

Priscila Nascimento, reprodução de Laura Costa, 194

"Olá!

Essa é minha segunda tattoo. Assim como a primeira, ela foi feita em novembro de 2009 pelo Tino do Led's Tattoo, um cara super gente boa, experiente e talentosíssimo! Pedi a reprodução desse postal da ilustradora Laura Costa, que faz parte de uma série de postais com imagens de trajes típicos de diferentes regiões de Portugal e de países que falam português. A série pode ser vista nesse link.

Escolhi a imagem que representa a Ilha da Madeira, pois minha família, por parte de pai e de mãe, nasceu lá. A tattoo foi concluída em duas sessões. Na primeira foi feito somente o contorno e, na segunda, o preenchimento. Na minha opinião, o trabalho se destaca pelo grau de detalhe que o artista conseguiu reproduzir. Trabalho muito caprichado, que valeu cada centavo e a dor (que descobri ser suportável!). Esse foi o primeiro passo de um projeto de fazer três imagens femininas que representam minha história e constituem quem eu me tornei. Não vou adiantar as próximas, mas pode deixar que mando fotos quando elas estiverem prontas!

Espero que tenham se interessado pela história!

Grata pelo espaço."

Priscila Nascimento

Priscila Nascimento, reprodução de Laura Costa, 194

"Olá!

Essa é minha segunda tattoo. Assim como a primeira, ela foi feita em novembro de 2009 pelo Tino do Led's Tattoo, um cara super gente boa, experiente e talentosíssimo! Pedi a reprodução desse postal da ilustradora Laura Costa, que faz parte de uma série de postais com imagens de trajes típicos de diferentes regiões de Portugal e de países que falam português. A série pode ser vista nesse link.

Escolhi a imagem que representa a Ilha da Madeira, pois minha família, por parte de pai e de mãe, nasceu lá. A tattoo foi concluída em duas sessões. Na primeira foi feito somente o contorno e, na segunda, o preenchimento. Na minha opinião, o trabalho se destaca pelo grau de detalhe que o artista conseguiu reproduzir. Trabalho muito caprichado, que valeu cada centavo e a dor (que descobri ser suportável!). Esse foi o primeiro passo de um projeto de fazer três imagens femininas que representam minha história e constituem quem eu me tornei. Não vou adiantar as próximas, mas pode deixar que mando fotos quando elas estiverem prontas!

Espero que tenham se interessado pela história!

Grata pelo espaço."

Priscila Nascimento

Japanese TATTOO Horimitsu style 牡丹

一日おきに早起きして師匠彫俊とウォーキングに行っています。
今日は西光院というお寺です。冬の間から楽しみにしていた牡丹が咲いていました。
４月は藤の花、５月が牡丹です。
夕べの雨で少し散ってしまったらしいですが、とてもすばらしい牡丹でした。
いつもいろいろ教えていただいてありがとうございます。(^-^)

It goes to master HORITOSHI1 and me walking getting up early every other day.
It is a temple'SAIKOIN' today. The peony that had looked forward for winter was in blossom.
It is a wistaria flower in April, and May is a peony.
It was a very wonderful peony it was when a little scattering because of rain in the evening ..doing...
Thank you for teaching always variously my teacher. (^-^)

Va a dominarnos HORITOSHI1 y paseando levantándose temprano cada dos días.
Es un temple'SAIKOIN' hoy. La peonía que había buscado invierno adelante estaba en lozanía.
Es una flor de la glicina en abril y mayo es una peonía.
Era una peonía muy maravillosa que era cuando un poco esparciendo debido a la lluvia por la tarde.. haciendo...
Gracias por siempre enseñar diversamente a mi maestro. (^ - ^)

The Tattooed Poets Project: Steele Campbell

Today's tattoo comes to us from Steele Campbell:

Steele tells us how he came to choose this tattoo:

"I debated back and forth about exactly what tattoo to get and where, but this one seemed to come from within. It should.

This is the Campbell Coat of Arms with the Campbell Motto underneath with Claymore swords behind the shield, as it was the Campbell Clan that started the Black Watch. What can I say; we are known for being ruthless. And because the
Campbell blood courses through these veins, and even spills from them on occasion, I could not find a better representation of myself. It was done in Auburn, Alabama at Shenanigan’s Tattoo Parlour by Ember Reign, a hard-yet-sweet roller-derby-girl tattoo-artist (among other things) as a celebration of permanence. But as nothing gold can stay, only this tattoo and my blood have remained. As they will."

Check out one of Steele's poems here on BillyBlog.

Steele Campbell is currently living (and I mean that robustly). He is essentially transient, but has paused his peregrination at Auburn University to complete a Master’s Degree on the fiction of Marilynne Robinson. He is the recipient of the Robert Hughes Mount Jr. Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets two years running and has been published in Decompression, The Boston Literary Review, Rope and Wire and Touchstones. He is the student poetry editor of the Southern Humanities Review. You can visit him at www.steelecampbell.net.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Steele Campbell

Today's tattoo comes to us from Steele Campbell:

Steele tells us how he came to choose this tattoo:

"I debated back and forth about exactly what tattoo to get and where, but this one seemed to come from within. It should.

This is the Campbell Coat of Arms with the Campbell Motto underneath with Claymore swords behind the shield, as it was the Campbell Clan that started the Black Watch. What can I say; we are known for being ruthless. And because the
Campbell blood courses through these veins, and even spills from them on occasion, I could not find a better representation of myself. It was done in Auburn, Alabama at Shenanigan’s Tattoo Parlour by Ember Reign, a hard-yet-sweet roller-derby-girl tattoo-artist (among other things) as a celebration of permanence. But as nothing gold can stay, only this tattoo and my blood have remained. As they will."

Check out one of Steele's poems here on BillyBlog.

Steele Campbell is currently living (and I mean that robustly). He is essentially transient, but has paused his peregrination at Auburn University to complete a Master’s Degree on the fiction of Marilynne Robinson. He is the recipient of the Robert Hughes Mount Jr. Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets two years running and has been published in Decompression, The Boston Literary Review, Rope and Wire and Touchstones. He is the student poetry editor of the Southern Humanities Review. You can visit him at www.steelecampbell.net.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Lisa Gill

Today's tattoo comes to us courtesy of Lisa Gill:

Lisa tells us:

"Last September, I got a rattlesnake in my living room. (I live rural outside the small town Moriarty, NM). I spent over two hours in close proximity to the snake, and ultimately ended up calling the sheriff's department and getting a deputy to help me catch it and release it off my property. After the encounter I spent months and months writing direct address poems to the snake and ended up with a play where the snake speaks back. The Relenting is both "true story" and archetypal and imagined journey, paralleling the transformation the snake sparked. The encounter, and the writing where I tried to process the encounter, changed my life, and because my life had changed (and is still changing), I wanted a tattoo to symbolize the transformation.

The only tattoo image I considered was the Minoan Snake Goddess.

I understood her intuitively in a way I'm still working to express with words. I worked with tattoo artist Serena Lander. I knew Serena's work on visual artist Suzanne Sbarge, who regularly helps bring Serena to New Mexico from Seattle. I trusted Suzanne and was right to. I had a great experience with Serena, the right kind of energy and contemplative exchange. I wanted line work, one color, kind of ruddy toned. She took images I sent her from archeological digs at the Palace of Knossos and transformed them into the image now on my arm.

I consider the image both a prayer and a mark of a turning point in my life. (I have three earlier tattoos, two black, one white, all smaller, from a decade prior, sparked by a different significant recognition.) The subtext for the new one is this: right before the encounter with the rattler, I'd just made it out of a wheelchair I'd been in for five months due to multiple sclerosis. Arms are not something I take for granted any longer... and the tattoo in that respect is simply about gratitude and facing disability with resilience, as much as I can muster..."

Please venture on over to BillyBlog to read an excerpt from the aforementioned The Relenting here.

New Mexico poet Lisa Gill is the recipient of a 2007 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, a 2010 New Mexico Literary Arts Gratitude Award, and just earned her MFA from the University of New Mexico this April. She is a literary arts activist, currently booking poets for "Church of Beethoven," and the author of three books of poetry, Red as a Lotus, Mortar & Pestle, and Dark Enough. A fourth book, The Relenting, is forthcoming with New Rivers Press (June 2010) and can be considered either a play or a poem scripted for two voices, rattler and woman. She'll be touring the play in the upcoming year, starting with a staged reading with Tricklock's Kevin Elder at 516 Arts in Albuquerque in June and then onward to Minnesota, LA, hopefully even to NY.

Thanks to Lisa for sharing her amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Lisa Gill

Today's tattoo comes to us courtesy of Lisa Gill:

Lisa tells us:

"Last September, I got a rattlesnake in my living room. (I live rural outside the small town Moriarty, NM). I spent over two hours in close proximity to the snake, and ultimately ended up calling the sheriff's department and getting a deputy to help me catch it and release it off my property. After the encounter I spent months and months writing direct address poems to the snake and ended up with a play where the snake speaks back. The Relenting is both "true story" and archetypal and imagined journey, paralleling the transformation the snake sparked. The encounter, and the writing where I tried to process the encounter, changed my life, and because my life had changed (and is still changing), I wanted a tattoo to symbolize the transformation.

The only tattoo image I considered was the Minoan Snake Goddess.

I understood her intuitively in a way I'm still working to express with words. I worked with tattoo artist Serena Lander. I knew Serena's work on visual artist Suzanne Sbarge, who regularly helps bring Serena to New Mexico from Seattle. I trusted Suzanne and was right to. I had a great experience with Serena, the right kind of energy and contemplative exchange. I wanted line work, one color, kind of ruddy toned. She took images I sent her from archeological digs at the Palace of Knossos and transformed them into the image now on my arm.

I consider the image both a prayer and a mark of a turning point in my life. (I have three earlier tattoos, two black, one white, all smaller, from a decade prior, sparked by a different significant recognition.) The subtext for the new one is this: right before the encounter with the rattler, I'd just made it out of a wheelchair I'd been in for five months due to multiple sclerosis. Arms are not something I take for granted any longer... and the tattoo in that respect is simply about gratitude and facing disability with resilience, as much as I can muster..."

Please venture on over to BillyBlog to read an excerpt from the aforementioned The Relenting here.

New Mexico poet Lisa Gill is the recipient of a 2007 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, a 2010 New Mexico Literary Arts Gratitude Award, and just earned her MFA from the University of New Mexico this April. She is a literary arts activist, currently booking poets for "Church of Beethoven," and the author of three books of poetry, Red as a Lotus, Mortar & Pestle, and Dark Enough. A fourth book, The Relenting, is forthcoming with New Rivers Press (June 2010) and can be considered either a play or a poem scripted for two voices, rattler and woman. She'll be touring the play in the upcoming year, starting with a staged reading with Tricklock's Kevin Elder at 516 Arts in Albuquerque in June and then onward to Minnesota, LA, hopefully even to NY.

Thanks to Lisa for sharing her amazing tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!