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/AVvXsEhLEsXduwNKINkEqakTO1GK_GV3T-xYB2dgnVzE8GiG4ATzAmexZqKZYiSnuo1Gak3PN2xe9lZqz7VbXeOWM7d9olqSx_10PgtJ5fXShF-cr3RSZgFYEN-JEBmT_NUTsDuFTh6t3pqfqkI/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/AVvXsEhLEsXduwNKINkEqakTO1GK_GV3T-xYB2dgnVzE8GiG4ATzAmexZqKZYiSnuo1Gak3PN2xe9lZqz7VbXeOWM7d9olqSx_10PgtJ5fXShF-cr3RSZgFYEN-JEBmT_NUTsDuFTh6t3pqfqkI/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...

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Under One Small Star - Two Tattoos from Anna

I met Anna earlier this month in Penn Station. I felt compelled to stop her when she walked by and I caught a glimpse of this amazing tattoo:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkCS75W9EgVzClRs4sIXM6y4N20JtYuSYasMODqHFlS_FgE9ATlAnOIS1dXoYao8SCH9KiqLK5inxZAHm4HJnYqSfbt0J93oz4nbbVy7aB8J4XwCsdsI_aagJvdHzq8y6OZh3cO0G/s1600/Khmer+line+1+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdkCS75W9EgVzClRs4sIXM6y4N20JtYuSYasMODqHFlS_FgE9ATlAnOIS1dXoYao8SCH9KiqLK5inxZAHm4HJnYqSfbt0J93oz4nbbVy7aB8J4XwCsdsI_aagJvdHzq8y6OZh3cO0G/s640/Khmer+line+1+wm.jpg" width="428" /></a></div><br />I love seeing ink that is new and original, and I had never seen a line of anything run up the length of a leg like this.<br /><br />Anna explained that this was a line of poetry that reads "My apologies to time for all the world I overlook each second" that she heard on a trip to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Literature">Cambodia</a>. Her group leader, Jan, had shared the poem, "Under One Small Star" by Polish <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Literature">Nobel Laureate</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wis%C5%82awa_Szymborska">Wislawa Szymborska</a>, and the verse meant a lot to her during her trip there. This one specific line really resounded with her, so she first "paid a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_language">Khmer</a> translation site and then had a friend [she] made in Cambodia, Ponheary, check the translation just to make sure it was correct". <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoVA8syIJohJoZMPsJ0vlcW6O9u5h9Y5aHE3paGdyrFVqRTXN5B8y4mr-nIYmzWj4CxoTP5n05rZLjN9hbqmALaSf01Mfg4aQkDou6jSN8qZ4siuvFOY-XzfdoHc9DKJf1ZEJUvnm2/s1600/Khmer+line+1+detail+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoVA8syIJohJoZMPsJ0vlcW6O9u5h9Y5aHE3paGdyrFVqRTXN5B8y4mr-nIYmzWj4CxoTP5n05rZLjN9hbqmALaSf01Mfg4aQkDou6jSN8qZ4siuvFOY-XzfdoHc9DKJf1ZEJUvnm2/s320/Khmer+line+1+detail+wm.jpg" /></a></div><br />I love the international flavor of this tattoo - a poem originally in Polish, translated to English, then re-translated to Khmer, transcribed in flesh in America!<br /><br />The line runs from top to bottom and was inked by Jason at <a href="http://powerhousetattoo.com/home.html">Powerhouse Tattoo Company</a> in Montclair, New Jersey.<br /><br />The poem is reprinted in its entirety at the end of this post.<br /><br />Since it is Tat-Tuesday, let's look at a second tattoo from Anna, this one on the back side of her right arm:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_N_KO83UrwxxP5t-eNGxh65hBPkZIM1r8ny3Zacp_tbkuWEl96FXV9mS3M0C1drFCbtcBibBynEt1OQ2MN5LDr3YS5jiz5d64yrc_DM49z45kfLWHj8uQJWXlbCTNafOZXWrUscw/s1600/Joan+of+Arc+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu_N_KO83UrwxxP5t-eNGxh65hBPkZIM1r8ny3Zacp_tbkuWEl96FXV9mS3M0C1drFCbtcBibBynEt1OQ2MN5LDr3YS5jiz5d64yrc_DM49z45kfLWHj8uQJWXlbCTNafOZXWrUscw/s640/Joan+of+Arc+wm.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />This is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_of_Arc">Joan of Arc</a>, "a hero of mine," says Anna, who admires her from the feminist perspective and finds her an "unbelievably inspirational" historical figure.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1glGhX1g-JeyhEaS66dcRcD2z-7Ye9s-UqyctK81Q_XhS95g2B-KltEnqeaqF7aCjOIX0Vfe-on81MGUTLGP0n8SYhkeRVVecOQVJB1vLtLIMbrUc_IxtDeRq40MHnmE85lMme4b/s1600/Joan+of+Arc+detail+wm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd1glGhX1g-JeyhEaS66dcRcD2z-7Ye9s-UqyctK81Q_XhS95g2B-KltEnqeaqF7aCjOIX0Vfe-on81MGUTLGP0n8SYhkeRVVecOQVJB1vLtLIMbrUc_IxtDeRq40MHnmE85lMme4b/s400/Joan+of+Arc+detail+wm.jpg" width="306" /></a></div><br />This piece was tattooed by the wonderful <a href="http://stephanietamez.com/">Stephanie Tamez</a> at <a href="http://www.nyadorned.com/">New York Adorned</a>. Stephanie's work has appeared previously on Tattoosday <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/search/label/Stephanie%20Tamez">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks again to Anna for sharing these two of her seven tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Under One Small Star</b></i></span><br /><br />My apologies to chance for calling it necessity.<br />My apologies to necessity if I'm mistaken, after all.<br />Please, don't be angry, happiness, that I take you as my due.<br />May my dead be patient with the way my memories fade.<br />My apologies to time for all the world I overlook each second.<br />My apologies to past loves for thinking that the latest is the first.<br />Forgive me, distant wars, for bringing flowers home.<br />Forgive me, open wounds, for pricking my finger.<br />I apologize for my record of minuets to those who cry from the depths.<br />I apologize to those who wait in railway stations for being asleep<br />today at five a.m.<br />Pardon me, hounded hope, for laughing from time to time.<br />Pardon me, deserts, that I don't rush to you bearing a spoonful of water.<br />And you, falcon, unchanging year after year, always in the same cage,<br />your gaze always fixed on the same point in space,<br />forgive me, even if it turns out you were stuffed.<br />My apologies to the felled tree for the table's four legs.<br />My apologies to great questions for small answers.<br />Truth, please don't pay me much attention.<br />Dignity, please be magnanimous.<br />Bear with me, O mystery of existence, as I pluck the occasional thread<br />from your train.<br />Soul, don't take offense that I've only got you now and then.<br />My apologies to everything that I can't be everywhere at once.<br />My apologies to everyone that I can't be each woman and each man.<br />I know I won't be justified as long as I live,<br />since I myself stand in my own way.<br />Don't bear me ill will, speech, that I borrow weighty words,<br />then labor heavily so that they may seem light.<br /><br /><i>--Wislawa Szymborska</i></blockquote>

Under One Small Star - Two Tattoos from Anna

I met Anna earlier this month in Penn Station. I felt compelled to stop her when she walked by and I caught a glimpse of this amazing tattoo...

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Katie Carries Her Father's Heart (and Her Mom's and Brother's, Too)

As a tribute to dads today on Father's Day, here's a tattoo from earlier in the week:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-07cvn79ndptbYugGF2cGVxOAMwhTIqmEU8aH5KPsOOc2clgM1LEW4985hKTUita0OViXkuQOgElhtBdiNbAHQLOv_fVg3EUDNSU-esKX52Dye0yjXsjL3W37yeOelm3wZF6ZrT3Q/s1600/I+carry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-07cvn79ndptbYugGF2cGVxOAMwhTIqmEU8aH5KPsOOc2clgM1LEW4985hKTUita0OViXkuQOgElhtBdiNbAHQLOv_fVg3EUDNSU-esKX52Dye0yjXsjL3W37yeOelm3wZF6ZrT3Q/s400/I+carry.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />This tattoo, on the upper left side of Katie's back, is more of a family tribute, than just a father's honor, but her dad did have a hand in the design.<br /><br />The words are from the last line of an <a href="http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/156">e.e. cummings</a> poem, "i carry your heart with me":<br /><blockquote><br /><pre>i carry your heart with me(i carry it in<br />my heart)i am never without it(anywhere<br />i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done<br />by only me is your doing,my darling)<br />i fear<br />no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want<br />no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)<br />and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant<br />and whatever a sun will always sing is you<br /><br />here is the deepest secret nobody knows<br />(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud<br />and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows<br />higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)<br />and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart<br /><br />i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)</pre></blockquote><pre> </pre>The three hearts were drawn by Katie's mother, father, and brother. As she sees it, she is always carrying their hearts with her at all times.<br /><br />It's a nice tribute to her family.<br /><br />This is one of three tattoos that Katie has. The font used is designed to look similar to cummings' typewriter-style of print.<br /><br />The artist was <a href="http://www.addictedtoinktattoos.com/content/cash.asp">Cash</a> at <a href="http://www.addictedtoinktattoos.com/">Addicted to Ink</a> in White Plains, New York. Work from Addicted to Ink has appeared previously on Tattoosday <a href="http://tattoosday.blogspot.com/2009/04/anthonys-skate-and-destroy-tattoo.html">here</a>.<br /><br />Thanks to Katie for sharing her tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Katie Carries Her Father's Heart (and Her Mom's and Brother's, Too)

As a tribute to dads today on Father's Day, here's a tattoo from earlier in the week: This tattoo, on the upper left side of Katie...

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