The Tattooed Poets Project: Noemi Soto

Today's tattooed poet is <a href="http://noemisoto.com/dreamland/">Noemi Soto</a>, who sent us this lovely, colorful photo of her tattoo:<br /><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/AVvXsEgMD52K7gGjedMTrrZgARySPOYgwmJyFWFIWBsGC4VzTlNclwNjEOPYTv2Hr-w9kzO-jvEhZkkvGsqyAH6lQN9AU8DQnxgJR5KN6MsHG8IoyhUlC5Xm96LlXEjB757qJO9FnSX6MB4h17c/s1600/HeartTattoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMD52K7gGjedMTrrZgARySPOYgwmJyFWFIWBsGC4VzTlNclwNjEOPYTv2Hr-w9kzO-jvEhZkkvGsqyAH6lQN9AU8DQnxgJR5KN6MsHG8IoyhUlC5Xm96LlXEjB757qJO9FnSX6MB4h17c/s400/HeartTattoo.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo Courtesy of Noemi Soto</td></tr></tbody></table>Noemi explains:<br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">"I designed the tattoo for myself during a pretty rough period after a major breakup about 6 years ago. I wanted it to represent the heartbreak that I was feeling at the time but still hold hope for the future. The artist who tattooed me was Danielle Distefano while she was working out of <a href="http://www.daredeviltattoo.com/">Dare DevilTattoo</a> on </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Ludlow Street</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;"> in </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">Manhattan</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">." </span></div></blockquote></div>Danielle is currently tattooing out of <a href="http://www.onlyyoutattoo.com/">Only You Tattoo</a> in Atlanta, Georgia.<br /><br />Noemi offers up this poem:<br /><br /><br /><div style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b><u><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Beginning is the End is the Beginning</span></u></b></div><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Back when I was younger<br />My mother tried to protect my heart<br />Always telling me to never bare my insides for a man<br />to never let him in fully so that he may devour what I hold dear<br />to not let a man do to me what had been done to her</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Her backbone used to show signs of strength but now lacks the stamina to withstand the battle<br />She was once a woman so strong in her will<br />but with every man in her life taking pieces of her for themselves<br />she has now become a mere shell of herself<br />The stink of her childhood still lingering in her hair</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">I was witness to the tug of war my father and her used to play<br />saw the push and pull of their hearts<br />there was nothing unconditional about their love<br />not even when it came to me<br />there is nothing sentimental and heartfelt in the throwing of pots, pans and fists<br />“I love you” cannot be said through the gnashing of one’s teeth</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">So when it came time for my will to be tested<br />I acted on what I saw and not what I was told<br />What I was shown was that to be a woman meant having to bend your spine so far back to please your man that you broke yourself in two<br />To stretch those parts of yourself out so that you may give him the smoothest of surfaces in which he may stomp your hopes and dreams into<br />To ignore his faults and accept them as your own<br />How dare you even think otherwise?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">I was taught that… to be a woman meant having to pick up the pieces that were left behind from his war path<br />making sure only your feet bled in the process to save his<br />Being a woman always meant never asking any questions<br />to let him roam and if he comes back … well… what more do you want?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">I followed all of these lessons very carefully<br />made sure I folded the laundry just right<br />had dinner ready when he came home<br />and always made sure to give him his space<br />only to find myself face down on the floor, arms pinned behind me, with all of his weight pressing his right knee into my back<br />I waited until he left the room to get up</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">I stayed in silence<br />still willing to be the woman behind the man<br />Still willing to be the glass which he slammed his fist against<br />shattering any sense of self worth I had just for him</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">I began to wonder if this really was what it meant to be a woman or just the kind of woman who was so lost in herself that she was willing to let a man tell her what she should be<br />and if it did …. Then I had to learn to become my own woman<br />and I couldn’t do that by being underneath his thumb</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">So I bent back each one of his fingers till they snapped at the joints to show him how serious I was<br />It was the only way to break free<br />and while he screamed in pain and cursed me for having been born</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;"><br />I cleared a way for myself through the broken home which I was sure would last forever<br />letting him know that he no longer had a hold on me<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">~~~</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="MsoNormal">Noemi Soto is a Brooklyn, New York native who was born and raised in Coney Island and is a recent transplant to Queens. Her poetry has been featured in a variety of publications such as <i><a href="http://www.acentosreview.com/Home.html">The Acentos Review</a></i>, <a href="http://theliteraryburlesque.com/"><i>The Literary Burlesque</i></a>, <a href="http://litupmagazine.wordpress.com/"><i>LitUp Magazine</i></a> & <a href="http://www.southjerseyunderground.com/"><i>South Jersey Underground</i></a>. She is a Pushcart Prize nominee and is currently working on her first book. You can read more of her work  at her website <a href="http://noemisoto.com/dreamland/">here</a>.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Thanks to Noemi for her contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><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: Noemi Soto

Today's tattooed poet is Noemi Soto , who sent us this lovely, colorful photo of her tattoo: Photo Courtesy of Noemi Soto Noemi explains...

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