The Tattooed Poets Project: Tess. Lotta's Tree Has Her Back

Today's tattoo comes to us from Tess. Lotta, a poet and editor of Media Cake eMagazine. She was referred to me by Rick Lupert over at the Poetry Super Highway:


Ms. Lotta had this piece tattooed "around 1998-99". She noted that, "it took awhile, as it was painful along the spine".

She continues explaining the piece:

"...Most of my work, including this back piece, is done by my dear friend Owen Connell. His shop, Parlor F, is located in Seattle ... At the same time I was coming through some heavy shit in my life, our neighbor was chopping down a very healthy, fabulous oak tree. She left it a stump. By the next spring, the stump had sprouted fresh twigs, each waving tiny, green flags at the ends as if to say 'I’m here.' It was a deep lesson for me. I’m lucky to have two trees in my life now: a skittish but big-hearted lemon tree (it was mutilated by an untrained tree trimmer) and a scrappy peach tree that is cranky as hell."

Thanks to Tess. for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Be sure to head over to BillyBlog and read one of her poems!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Whitman's Song on Michael Mayo's Chest

Today's tattooed poet has a poetry tattoo. Michael Mayo was referred to me by the poet Dorianne Laux, who taught Michael at North Carolina State University.


Michael Mayo has "I celebrate myself and sing myself" tattooed on his chest, honoring the opening line of Walt Whitman's iconic poem "Song of Myself":

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

Michael explains why he chose to have these words, first published in 1855 in Leaves of Grass, tattooed over his heart:

"I got the Whitman quote for a few reasons. The year before [2005], I was dealing with a lot of difficult issues with my family and my Chemistry major at school. My confidence and happiness were being affected very negatively. I took an intro to poetry writing class, and I found I enjoyed the catharsis of writing.

I don't know if I read "Song of Myself" on my own or if we read it in class, but I remember admiring not only the beauty in Whitman's words, but his self-assuredness.

I got the tattoo as a symbol to myself of a great American poet to admire and imitate and as a reminder to have faith and confidence in myself."

Michael is a Creative Writing major and is planning on applying to MFA programs in the fall.

The tattoo was done on his 22nd birthday, March 20, 2006, at Blue Flame Tattoo in Raleigh, North Carolina. Work from Blue Flame has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Check out Michael's poem "Blowing Off Death" over on BillyBlog.

Thanks to Michael for sharing his poetic tattoo here on Tattoosday!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Amanda's Tattoo Reminds Us that Life is Beautiful

Just a brief note...despite the Tattooed Poets Project for National Poetry Month, I still plan on spotting ink on the streets of New York, and posting photos here.

This is one of those posts....

On Saturday, April 4, my travels took me to the East Side of Manhattan, a part of town I don't usually frequent.

I had run an errand and was about to get on the train back to Brooklyn, when I ducked into a Duane Reade near the subway.

While standing in line, I noticed two young ladies talking to one another. One had the following tattoo inscribed above her left ankle:


"La vie est jolie," translated from the French, means "Life is beautiful."

As it turned out, Amanda, who shared this tattoo, was in great spirits. She was getting married later that afternoon. Several of her friends, presumably a bridesmaid or two among them, were standing nearby.

Amanda said that the expression encapsulated her outlook on life and that she loves France and French culture.

Her friend reminded her that she got the tattoo after her first visit to France.

Amanda also has a star tattooed on the inside of her left wrist, but just the two tattoos. A friend of hers, who is a tattoo artist, inked the inscription at his home in the Bronx.

Many thanks to Amanda for being up for talking with me on a day when she surely had bigger things on her mind!

We here at Tattoosday wish you a long, happy, and beautiful marriage!!

Henna Tattoo at The Midnight Sun

This Saturday, April 4th from Noon 'till Five you can get a henna tattoo from the artists of Spirit Vision Henna. We hope you will stop by to see us at the Midnight Sun at 1055 Park Street.
You are welcome to browse the many pattern books of traditional, tribal and original henna tattoo patterns to find the one you want. Prices start at $15 and go up from there. (Of course tiny designs & art for children start at $10 each.) Please be sure to take a moment to visit the Henna FAQ page to get answers to the most frequently asked questions.
If you are feeling adventurous, just you may choose the "Chef's Choice" style which is featured on this post. Chef's Choice henna means you let us know the style you like & the price you want to pay... and.. see what happens.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Doug Anderson's Phoenix Soars

I first heard that Doug Anderson had an "amazing" tattoo via the poet Marilyn Nelson.

When I saw photos of it, I knew she wasn't exaggerating. Doug went in to Green Man Tattoo in West Hartford, Connecticut, and met the co-owner, Jon Elliot. He did what is considered ideal for a lot of tattoo artists: he gave him a kernel of an idea and "told him to do what he wanted as long as it was a phoenix". Doug notes, "I like to let artists do that because they always do their best work that way." Agreed, and the proof is in the end result.

The tattoo was completed in 2 two-and-a-half-hour sittings. Here's the basic piece before the color was added:



And then the final result:


The phoenix is a popular image in tattooing, yet one that you don't see too often, as they tend to be large, elaborate pieces. Doug elaborated a little as to why he wanted a phoenix:

"The phoenix, of course, is a symbol of rebirth from the ashes, a story that matters to me because it describes my life. I began writing late in life and very nearly did not survive my early life."

Be sure to head on over to BillyBlog and read one of Doug's poems.

Thanks to Doug for contributing to Tattoosday's celebration of National Poetry Month!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Kim Addonizio's Blue Roses

When first embarking on this tattoo project, nearly everyone I asked referred me to Kim Addonizio. I'd venture to say she is the poet most well-known as "tattoo-friendly". In part, this is due to her editing an anthology called Dorothy Parker's Elbow: Tattoos on Writers, Writers on Tattoos.

Graciously, Kim accepted my invitation to participate in Tattoosday's National Poetry Month project. She sent me the photo above, her fourth tattoo. I love the blue roses that set this piece apart from most lower back tribal tattoos.

Kim told me:

"The piece was done ... in Santa Barbara. It was the worst tattoo experience I ever had. (I have five tattoos). In the middle of it [the artist] took a phone call, saying, "Oh, hi. I'm tattooing a crack." I like the tattoo, though. There wasn't any particular significance to the design, for me, though afterwards I thought about Laura Wingfield in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie being called Blue Roses by her Gentleman Caller, and so it's become a bit of a reminder to myself, when I'm feeling fragile, to take a risk rather than withdraw."

She had this tattooed in 1994 and has added one more to her collection since then.

Be sure to head on over to BillyBlog to read one of Kim's poems. And although not every poem written by an inked poet appearing on BillyBlog this month is tattoo-related, Kim's is.

Thanks very much to Kim Addonizio for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Jill Alexander Essbaum's Poetic Feet (and Jessica Piazza's Too!)

UPDATED! See below....


I've decided to launch this special National Poetry Month Tattoosday feature with the wonderful tattooed feet of Jill Alexander Essbaum, author of several collections of poetry, the most recent being Harlot.

Although this month I will be featuring tattoos on poets, not every tattoo is poetic, in the literal sense. Jill's inked feet are.

Jill met me in the Starbucks at 7 Penn Plaza on a cold day in February, prior to a reading at the KGB Bar later that evening.

She was one of the first poets who signed on to this project, and she allowed me the honor of taking a clearer picture of her tattoos, even though they appeared here, on the Best American Poetry blog, back in May 2008.

Although the concept may be alien to many, students and purveyors of the art of poetry know that a line of poetry can be broken down into metered verse that is identifiable based on the stress and intonation of the syllables.

People may have heard that most of Shakespeare's work is composed, for example, in iambic pentameter. What that means is that each line is comprised of five parts, or "feet," and each foot is made up of an iamb, or two syllables, the first of which is unstressed, followed by the stressed sound.

The name "Marie" is an iamb, for example, as the stress falls on the second syllable. "Mary," on the other hand, has the stress on the first syllable, and is identified as a "trochee".

There are other types of poetic fragments, such as dactylls and anapests, but the iambic and trochaic feet are the most common.

So what does this have to do with Jill's feet? When poets study and scan a line of verse, they mark it up, identifying the stress marks with the accents (or longums), and the unstressed syllables with a symbol known as a brevis.


Jill's feet are literally with the symbols denoting them as trochee (left) and iamb (right). Pure brilliance, in my opinion.

Jill and her friend Jessica came up with this idea last year and gave it significant thought.

As most poets (with notable exceptions, of course) are also teachers, they thought it would be a great visual aid when educating students on scansion.

Jill spent a weekend sketching and drawing the marks, not as easy a task as one would imagine. How to make the marks look like poetic symbols, and not stray ink marks, or even worse, scars, was a part of the process.

She and Jessica mulled the placement on the body: should they go on their wrists? Jill, a professed punster, then had the revelation: iambs and trochees are poetic feet, the tattoos should go on their own feet.

Trochee went on the right side, because it is a progressive, forward-moving beat. Iamb went on the left, as it is a heartbeat.

She and Jessica both got inked in June 2008, shortly before the West Chester Poetry Conference. What better setting to show off fresh poetry tattoos?

Each tattoo took only 15 minutes, and Jessica placed her ink on the sides of her feet, as opposed to the tops like Jill.

I want to thank Jill Alexander Essbaum for helping launch this special feature here on Tattoosday. I invite you to head over here to BillyBlog and check out one of Jill's poems, along with links to more of her work.

WAIT! There's more.....

Here's a photo of the feet of Jill's friend Jessica Piazza:


As noted before, it's the same tattoo, just oriented differently on the feet. Jessica added:

I figured, since it was my idea in the first place, I should be up on this if I can. Too bad we couldn't find a way to get tattoos that symbolize rhyme. I'm more of the meter dork than Jill, which is why I wanted these in the first place. (In all fairness, doing it on our feet was her stroke of genius!)

And, as Jill noted in the comment section, the tattooist is Chris Torres.

Head on back over to BillyBlog here to see one of Jessica's poems.