The Tattooed Poets Project: Michael Torres

Our second tattooed poet of the day is Michael Torres.

Michael sent in photos of two tattoos, including this one:

Michael informs us that the set of words inscribed on his flesh

 "...is a poem called Oh Yes by Charles Bukowski. I got it done at Por Vida Tattoo in Upland, California. I got it done because at that time in my life poetry was becoming more of a hobby to me and I was beginning to see my world changing in front of me. Friends that got married and had kids right after high school were finding out that things weren't going exactly as they had planned. The poem represents the realization that there is much I have to do in life before I worry about settling down simply because I think I have to."

 He also sent us this piece:

Michael explains:

"The second tattoo in the same arm is of the poetry muse, Erato. I basically liked the image I googled. The original artist is Sir Edward John Poynter and it was done in 1870.

I had the tattoo done in Montclair, Ca at Skills for Thrills tattoo shop. Me being a poet wanted to have the muse with me all the time. Even though we believe we should be lucky to have her whisper those golden lines into our ears I thought, why not have her around all the time. I am not going to stop writing any time soon and I don't take for granted all I have been given because of writing so this was for her, the muse. Both tattoos were done on my lower left arm."

Michael sent us this poem, as well:

The Coltrane 

I am a
top-hat-black-tie-poetry-party ditcher
off wandering the
downtown streets of my mind with a
kool-aid pitcher in my hand, rice crispy treats in my backpack and a beach ball
somewhere
over everyone
like the dot to the letter i. I

am looking
for myself. And

rumor has it I was last seen standing at the edge of a woman’s heart facing tomorrow, screaming
I’LL DO IT. I’LL JUMP      before turning around
to see that she
was already long gone, leaving only a note that read 
“please, just clean up the mess." I guess I would then
 head in the direction of the park because
poetry is nature
and sheets of paper
walk the same way leaves do when the wind calls
and pens click December raindrops.
Aha,

my imagination has left me trails of sheet music
so I walk to the jazz notes waiting
for the next Coltrane to take me
home.

There! In the park I see
me, running towards the lake.

Piano keys ripple across the water like a tossed pebble
fucking up the order of time cuz now when I look at my reflection,       I see me
but he
is
a little boy
trying to dance
to the ranchera music moving across the back porch
at a neighbor's party he, I mean I, snuck into, all
the adults there speaking      Spanish,
cigarette tongues laughing ash onto my, I mean his,
head.

He is we, only 7, and I at 25
have forgotten what I was suppose to find
in the first place. He is happy and

I wanna be
me again.

I jump in-to

sky
           blue,

 break      water      skin,

 breathe out,
           breathe in.

~ ~ ~

Michael Torres was born and raised in Pomona, California. He was exposed to poetry at an early age, learning the works of William Shakespeare, Langston Hughes and Emily Dickinson to name a few. He has been published in Beatlick News, The Chiron Review, Left Coast Review, and Solo Press. His first chapbook of poetry, The Beautiful Distraction was published by Finishing Line Press. Michael is currently in school pursuing a degree in creative writing at the University of California, Riverside. He lives in Pomona, Ca.

Thanks to Michael for sharing his poetry and tattoos with us here on the Tattooed Poets Project!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. 


The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission. 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 http://tattoosday.blogspot.com 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.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Eric Morago

This morning's tattooed poet is Eric Morago, who shares these lines of verse from his forearm:

I am a BIG Charles Bukowski fan, so I immediately recognized these lines ("what matters most / is how you / walk through the / fire") when I saw the photo.
Eric explains:

"The tattoo is taken from a the title of a collection of poems 

by Charles Bukowski. 

 I got [the tattoo] over Thanksgiving break at a local tattoo shop (Body Art Tattoo) in my hometown of Whittier, CA during my first semester of grad school.  I had just finished grading a bunch of papers as well as writing my own for a class and was just overwhelmed by what the next two years had in store for me that I wanted to do something commemorate the struggle ahead.  So that when all was said and done, M.F.A in hand, there was also tangible proof (besides a piece of paper) for what I had I succeeded in obtaining.  And the words would be a damn good reminder on those occasions where papers and grading and thesis deadlines loomed in the distance." 

By way of poetry, Eric offers up this tattoo-related gem:

ENTANGLED

A beautiful portrait of destruction,
her back is tattooed from shoulder
to shoulder—a giant octopus tears
boats apart with unworldly tendrils.
This turns me on.  I am a prepubescent
again thinking I’ve found ambrosia
between the pages of Victoria’s Secret
catalogues.  I get dizzy, lost in fantasy.
How though its body is submerged
in murky water, hidden by shading,
I believe the monster is winking at me.
I sit, imagine freckles into tiny frenzied
sailors jumping ship into the dark of her
skin, sinking down spine’s curve,
drowning, or falling into the creature’s
waiting, open-beaked mouth.  I would
never tell her any of this, of course.
Better she stay in the peep, a shadowy
figure of myth.  And like a yarn-spinning
seadog swearing by fantastical beasts—
all tentacles, sharp snouted and snarl
toothed—I too am ensnared, imagination
entangled in the suction-cupped arms
of wanting.  It is all I can do to fight,
struggle being pulled under an inky
veil where our eyes can clearly meet,
where any and all mystique is gone.

~ ~ ~

Eric Morago is a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet who believes performance carries as much importance on the page, as it does off. Currently Eric is an an associate reviewer for Poetix.net, poet-in-residence with California WorkforceAssociation, and teaches workshops for Red Hen Press’ Writing in the Schools program. 

His first full length collection of poetry and prose entitled, What We Ache For, is available from Moon Tide Press. Eric holds an MFA in Creative Writing from California State University, Long Beach and lives to write in Whittier, CA.

Thanks to Eric for sharing his poem and tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2012 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.

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 http://tattoosday.blogspot.com 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.

Caroline Rocks an Awesome R.Crumb Tattoo

I'm rationing all the tattoos I spotted in Hawai'i, which allows me to share the amazing ones I've seen since returning to New York. A huge backlog of ink photos means I can be pickier and share the very best.

My first day back in the Big Apple I met Caroline, at the corner of 23rd and 6th, a stone's throw from the Hotel Chelsea.

When I asked her to share one of her many tattoos (she has around 30), she bared her upper arm to reveal this great piece:

I recognized it immediately as the popular "underground" comic artist R. Crumb. Not that he wasn't already popular, but he illustrated a couple of Charles Bukowski stories in the late '80s, and this image was one used in the Black Sparrow Press issue of his short story "Bring Me Your Love".

Caroline explained to me why this tattoo was essential to her tapestry. She would often, when angry or frustrated, say she was so mad she could punch herself in the face. When she saw the drawing, she knew it would be a perfect tattoo for her.

Joe at Saints & Sinners in Baltimore was the artist who transferred R. Crumb's genius onto Caroline's flesh.


Thanks again to Caroline for sharing this great tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!