Craig Arnold Needs Our Help

Craig Arnold, whose tattoos were featured just last Friday here, has gone missing on an isolated island in Japan.He needs our help. The Japanese authorities are close to calling off the search, and we need to do what we can by contacting our elected officials in Washington to put pressure on the Japanese government to not give up on finding Craig.There's more info here.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Wrapping Up National Poetry Month

"Alas, I've done the uninkable"-Paul Muldoon, February 3, 2009That was Mr. Muldoon's response to my inquiry, in January, if he was tattooed. I've been wanting to include that somewhere this month, and finally found the spot. Thank you, Mr. Muldoon.As I wrap up National Poetry Month here on Tattoosday and BillyBlog, it all seems a bit unreal. I spent a good quarter of the year, since mid-January,

The Tattooed Poets Project: A Hand for Joy Harjo

Our last tattoo for National Poetry Month comes to us from the wonderful poet Joy Harjo.I was surprised, to be honest, when Joy agreed to participate, because she seemed so busy. Despite the exchange of messages from her, aside from her permission to be a part of the project, I didn't get a lot of detail about the piece she offered. Fortunately for me and, by extension, Tattoosday readers, she

The Tattooed Poets Project: Eileen Myles - "Poet, Take My Measure"

For this, our penultimate post in the April Tattooed Poets Series, we present a tattoo from Eileen Myles.Last week Thursday, I met Eileen on my lunch break at a Starbucks in Union Square. For a blog based on meeting people with tattoos, it was refreshing to sit and chat with a poet in person. It was only the second face-to-face meeting with tattooed poets. All others have been based on e-mail

The Tattooed Poets Project: Meredith Sugarman's Interpretation of a Russian Prison Tattoo

As the end of National Poetry Month approaches, I find myself in an enviable position: too many poets' tattoos, too few days. So, I've decided to "double up" and make today a "Two for Tattoosday". I have also realized that this Tattooed Poets Series will have to continue, in one form or another, above and beyond National Poetry Month. Stay tuned for more details.In the mean time, Meredith

The Tattooed Poets Project: Ruth Kohtz Shares a Poema

Today's tattoo comes from Ruth Kohtz:Ruth explains:I got the "poema" tattoo on my birthday, November 9, in 2007, by Nik Lensing at Fluid Ink in St. Paul, Minnesota. I made the appointment about 2 hours before I got it, and I had the design all printed out already.I had been out of college for about six months and was struggling with lots of existential "what am I doing?" kind of stuff. I have

The Tattooed Poets Project: My First Tattoo

I'm going to be a greedy little poet/blogger today and share one of my tattoos (and a tattoo-themed sestina on BillyBlog). We're in our final week of National Poetry Month, and I thought it would be a good time to hop on the bandwagon.I was hoping to post a tattoo that I've recently had done, but the artist has respectfully requested that I wait to post it until after it has been fully

The Tattooed Poets Project: Claire Askew's Two Naomis

Today's tattoos come from Claire Askew, a poet and editor who lives in Edinburgh, Scotland:Claire explains:My tattoo was inked by Roberto Seifert, who works out of Herzblut Tattoo in Leipzig, Germany. However, he tattooed me while doing a guest-stint at the fantastic Tattoo Zoo (run by Gerry Kramer) in Victoria, Canada. It was summer 2008 and I originally went into the parlour with my

The Tattooed Poets Project: Rachel McKibbens' Bookish Knuckle Tattoos

Today's tattoos were submitted by Rachel McKibbens, who knows, among others, Cheryl, whose beautiful tattoo, appeared here previously. These are, in fact, the first knuckle tattoos appearing on the Tattooed Poets Project:Rachel, who is almost fully-sleeved, writes:I got this tattoo on April 30th, 2006, at the True Blue Tattoo studio while visiting Austin, TX. [Work from True Blue has appeared on

The Tattooed Poets Project: Craig Arnold - Ἔρως and ψυχή

Today's tattoos come to us from Craig Arnold, who I found by way of J.D. McClatchy (who is un-inked, but suggested I contact Craig).He sent these to me from Yakushima in Japan, which, according to Craig, "has lots of Princess Mononoke landscapes but very little internet/phone service".Craig has two Greek words inscribed on his arms:Craig explains:"Both are Greek words: the right arm (Ἔρως) is

The Tattooed Poets Project: Guy LeCharles Gonzalez Presents A Bat from Jersey and a Honeymoon Memento

Today's tattoos are presented by the poet Guy LeCharles Gonzalez.The first one is a bat:Guy explains:"I got the first tattoo, a stylized bat, back in 1995 somewhere in New Jersey; Toms River, maybe? I'd resisted the urge to get one while I was on active duty in the Army, not wanting something stereotypical that I'd hate or regret a few years later, but a friend of mine had finally psyched herself

The Tattooed Poets Project: Cody Todd's Murals - Star Wars and an Interpretive Tribal

Today's tattoos come from Cody Todd, who was referred to me by Carol Muske-Dukes:The first one is a back piece, still in progress:Cody explains this as "a Star Wars mural--the Millenium Falcon in front of a meteor pursued by a TIE Fighter, from The Empire Strikes Back with the specter of Boba Fett looming above the chase." He credits an artist named Skip (since retired) at Old World Tattoo in

The Tattooed Poets Project: Dese'Rae Stage and Some Poetic Tulips

Last Wednesday (April 15), I was trying to distract myself from having my back tattooed, when my BlackBerry chirped and I found a wonderful e-mail in my inbox. A poet and photographer named Dese'Rae Stage had graced me with some photos of a few of her fifteen tattoos. What follows is my favorite of those pieces:The first piece is based on Sylvia Plath's poem "Tulips":The poem is below, with the

The Tattooed Poets Project: Moira Egan's Literary Ink, A Little Bit of Ireland, All the Way from Rome

Today's tattoo comes to us from across the Atlantic, contributed by Moira Egan, a poet living in Rome, Italy:Hers is a literary tattoo. Moira reports, it's:"A page corner from the Book of Kells (an illuminated manuscript that's housed in Trinity College, Dublin), in this version, housed a couple of inches below my left clavicle. Little Vinnie of Little Vinnie's Tattoos in Maryland is the artist,

The Tattooed Poets Project: Adam Deutsch's Miltonic Tattoos

Today's tattoos come from Adam Deutsch. We started with this photo:Photo taken by Lillian Bertram.A cool photo, and Adam explained the piece:It's based on a Gustave Doré etching from his interpretations of Milton's Paradise Lost, the lines "He the Almighty Power/ Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky" (I. 44-45) when Lucifer is waging war, before the fall to Hell.White ink is incorporated

The Tattooed Poets Project: Rachel Mallino's Vine Entwines