Cute Tattoo Designs: Texas Body Art Tattoo Studio

<br /><div class="MsoNormal">  </div><div class="MsoNormal">  </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Today's tattooed poet, Dr. Grisel  Y. Acosta, sends her submission in from Texas:</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0cfIgSIphyVpqq8rVM68cZX9URqOEXAAH-PvCaOkU_j1rwYC2gCxUWUP-986HrdEd-8gZa5CWkpe7YPYa3u_0wmQvo2v4PAqsN-ine7s1Zh7GSAQV6Bba7DFeyrSZF27OmJCYiRzu3g/s1600/Grisel+Acosta+Tattoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ0cfIgSIphyVpqq8rVM68cZX9URqOEXAAH-PvCaOkU_j1rwYC2gCxUWUP-986HrdEd-8gZa5CWkpe7YPYa3u_0wmQvo2v4PAqsN-ine7s1Zh7GSAQV6Bba7DFeyrSZF27OmJCYiRzu3g/s640/Grisel+Acosta+Tattoo.jpg" width="497" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"> Grisel explains this body art: </div><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">The <a href="http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=nym">Mets</a> are kind of responsible for the tattoo I have on my arm and shoulder.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>See, my husband is obsessed with the Mets and when we moved to San Antonio from the East Coast, he lamented not being able to see his team on a regular basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>He was so puppy-dog sad that when he planned a trip to Houston purely on the basis of seeing the Mets play the <a href="http://houston.astros.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=hou">Astros</a> in Minute  Maid Park, I couldn’t help but enthusiastically agree, just to see the wonderfully happy look on his face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>But, I said that if he was going to have a cool experience on the trip, I had to have one, too: I was to get my next tattoo at the famous <a href="http://www.texasbodyart.com/">Texas Body Art</a>, known for countless features in tattoo magazines and highlighted appearances at tattoo shows across the country.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I wanted a skull with blue roses coming out of it but I was wavering about the idea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Then, a dear friend reminded me of the literary connection of the image in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams">Tennessee Williams</a>’ <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Glass_Menagerie"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Glass Menagerie</i></a>, one of my favorite plays by one of my favorite writers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Ah, yes, the idea <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">was</i> perfect—and the trip was, too!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>The Mets won in a record 17 innings!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>And I won a professional work of art that was designed on the spot in a matter of minutes by the skilled artists at Texas Body Art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Sweet!</div></blockquote>For people not familiar with <i>The Glass Menagerie</i>, one of the characters, Laura, has the nickname "Blue Roses".<br /><br />Grisel also sent along this poem:<br /><blockquote><b><u>Trash</u></b> </blockquote><blockquote><div class="MsoNormal">Papi threw out all my artwork.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Derek’s carved open chest,</div><div class="MsoNormal">blue-black heart and orange skin in</div><div class="MsoNormal">Design marker scrawl,</div><div class="MsoNormal">condemning our underground afternoon of</div><div class="MsoNormal">Southside sad lust.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">A spotlighted box of cereal called “Health”</div><div class="MsoNormal">in a room with a grass floor, pine tree</div><div class="MsoNormal">decoration, and chopped lumber sitting neatly.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Acrylic nature.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>I miss this one the most.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I am reminded of it every time I shop at Whole Foods.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Even the two-bits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Tiny 2x2 art,</div><div class="MsoNormal">entered in competition, or sold.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Two of mine won awards.</div><div class="MsoNormal">One of them, my first sale, was bought for $5.</div><div class="MsoNormal">It was a multi-colored, swirling cathedral called “My Bed.”</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">I placed all the work under the bed </div><div class="MsoNormal">in the guest room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>By my next visit,</div><div class="MsoNormal">it was gone,</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">except for “Insane Bridget.”</div><div class="MsoNormal">She is framed and in the living room,</div><div class="MsoNormal">face turned away, bony back</div><div class="MsoNormal">curved at the viewer, harsh</div><div class="MsoNormal">charcoal on brown paper.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Dark copper sadness, winner of a gold prize.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">Papi values winning.</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anything else is trash.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">And this is why, today, he is so afraid,</div><div class="MsoNormal">scared that retirement means he, too, is trash, </div><div class="MsoNormal">wary of children who might find him useless.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal">But artists make beauty out of trash.</div><div class="MsoNormal">We roll in the discarded and live with its decline,</div><div class="MsoNormal">listen to it crumble and make the sound song,</div><div class="MsoNormal">cradle it in our hands and sculpt it useful.</div></blockquote><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"> ~ ~ ~</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"> </div><div class="MsoNormal">   </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta recently graduated from the doctoral program in English at the <a href="http://utsa.edu/">University of Texas at San  Antonio</a>, where she was also the managing editor of UTSA’s art and literature journal, <a href="http://www.sagebrushreview.org/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">SagebrushReview</i></a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Some of her creative work can be found in <a href="http://www.afterhourspress.com/After%20Hours/Home.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">After Hours</i></a>, <a href="http://www.uncp.edu/pembrokemagazine/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pembroke Magazine</i></a>, <a href="http://mipoesias.com/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">MiPoesias</i></a>, the NAACP Image Award nominated <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0971905231/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0971905231%22%3ECheck%20the%20Rhyme:%20An%20Anthology%20of%20Female%20Poets%20&%20Emcees%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=0971905231&camp=217145&creative=399349%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Check the Rhyme</i></a>, <a href="http://www.privatephotoreview.com/en/index.php/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">PrivateInternational Photo Review</i></a>, and <a href="http://www.voicesdelaluna.com/"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Voicesde la Luna</i></a>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Some of her scholarly work can be found in <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ciframe%20src=%22http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=bill03-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1443813591%22%20style=%22width:120px;height:240px;%22%20scrolling=%22no%22%20marginwidth=%220%22%20marginheight=%220%22%20frameborder=%220%22%3E%3C/iframe%3E"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">African AmericanWomen’s Language</i></a>, <a href="http://english.usu.edu/wla.aspx"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Western AmericanLiterature</i></a>, <a href="http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=%22http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0805858407/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=bill03-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0805858407%22%3EHandbook%20of%20Latinos%20and%20Education:%20Theory,%20Research,%20and%20Practice%3C/a%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=0805858407&camp=217145&creative=399349%22%20width=%221%22%20height=%221%22%20border=%220%22%20alt=%22%22%20style=%22border:none%20%21important;%20margin:0px%20%21important;%22%20/%3E"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Handbook ofLatinos/as and Education</i></a>, and the forthcoming <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Routledge Companion to Latino/a Literature</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Her influences include her Cuban/Colombian heritage, Chicago—where she was born, house and punk music, sci-fi and cyberculture.</div><br />A sincere thanks to Grisel for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday!<br /><br /><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: Grisel Acosta

Today's tattooed poet, Dr. Grisel Y. Acosta, sends her submission in from Texas: Grisel explains this body art: The Mets are ki...

Cute Tattoo Designs

The Tattooed Poets Project: Grisel Acosta

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