Member Poem

1.
I’ve been tattooed for over 48 hours.
Over 48 hours.
For those hours nothing else exists,
creating a masterpiece on flesh.
The combination of a dentist’s office
Mixed with tattoo ink.
That smell is my home,
Each visit brings memories back.
I remember every line,
Every shade of color
the dull ache by the wrist
hitting nerves
That I can feel all the way up my arm
To the sharp burn in the “pit”
More or less likened to
Setting fire to the skin
With knives being scraped across.
This is the necessary sacrifice
You learn to live in the pain,
Letting it wash over you
Rather than fight it.
Sink into its searing embrace
Let it burn away the stress
22 Connections
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2.
To the older woman who stopped me
At 8 am to tell me my mistake,
That tattoos will cost me my future.
My “mistake” is my crowning achievement.
To my mother who insists I must be mad
Truthfully I might be mad
Mad with the desire of creation
Painting scenes of unparalleled beauty upon skin
Bringing color to the plain.
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3.
The drive home is the culmination
The high after the pain
The calm after the storm
The reflection
On what I just did to myself
What I put myself through.

Like a prisoner being released
I can’t resist but go back.
This is the escape I crave
An escape from the deafening noise
of everyday life
Into the buzz of the gun.
Into the burn of the needle.
This is my escape.
Let the ink flow
Watch my walls go
Fire up the gun, Ryan.
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