Richard Georges' Two Goddesses (The Tattooed Poets Project)

Today's tattooed poet is Richard Georges, who is our first contributor ever from the British Virgin Islands. He is sharing some amazing tattoos with us:

Richard tells us:

"I have Saraswati - Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, art, wisdom, and learning inside my left forearm, and Lakshmi - Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune, and prosperity on my right. They were both done (as well as their corresponding sleeves) by Federico Ferroni (@federicoferroni) of Love/Hate Tattoo (@miamiinklovehate) in Miami. I haven't had anything done recently, but I'd definitely go back to him if I decide to get any more work."

Richard also gave us the poem "Exorcism/Freeport," which appeared previously in Cordite Poetry Review in May 2017:

Exorcism / Freeport

when I was eight, a priest came and flicked holy water
into the four corners of this wooden house


that kept my parents, two sons, a daughter,
and a darkening forest in its mouth.


The priest muttered in Latin, crossed us all
with odorous oils, his thumb pausing on


on the bottom of each cross, on the small
space of our foreheads where Christ was hung from.


but the spirits came every night until
my father opened the fowl’s throat like a bible,


the glint of metal washed away in blood,
a beating of black, white and red feather


his hands, the knife, performed their own recital
to feed with one hand, with the other, kill.

~ ~ ~

Richard Georges is the author of the poetry collections Make Us All Islands (Shearsman Books) and GIANT (Platypus Press). He is the recipient of the 2016 Marvin E. Williams Literary Prize from The Caribbean Writer, and has been shortlisted for The Wasafiri New Writing Prize, The Small Axe Literary Prize, The Hollick Arvon Prize for Caribbean Literature, and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. You can find him at www.richardgeorges.com.

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

This entry is ©2018 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.

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Mike's Flying Saucer and Pyramids Were Meant to Appear Here

There are often times that I see interesting tattoos but the opportunity to speak to their hosts is not ideal, so I make peace with the fact that featuring them here is not meant to be. If it's meant to be, I believe, we shall meet again, even in a city of seven million people.

This may seem silly to some, that tattoos are fated to appear on Tattoosday, but one example amazes me and makes me wonder.

On October 12, I planned to sell a couple bags of books at the Strand Bookstore. I left my office on 31st and 7th and headed east down 31st on the north side of the street.

Halfway down the block I noticed the guy walking in front of me had tattoos. It was when he took off his jacket or sweater that I realized he had several interesting ones.

I sighed. I was laden down with books and he was moving at a pretty brisk pace. At 6th Avenue, he turned right, downtown. I shrugged and thought "oh well," and turned left to the north.

I walked a block to 32nd Street and entered the Subway at Greeley Square. I caught the train to 14th Street/Union Square and came out on 14th and Broadway. I walked two blocks south to the Strand at the corner of Broadway and East 12th.

I stood in line for a bit, and then met with the bookbuyer who gave me a fair price. I left the store, heading north on Broadway, crossing the street and depositing the money I had just received for the books at a Chase ATM machine. I exited the vestibule and headed back to Union Square. I had just crossed East 13th when a familiar face passed me. Rather, familiar tattoos. I whirled and caught up to the guy I had seen 18 blocks and 2 avenues away, approximately 1.1 miles, according to Google Maps.

I thought the odds of seeing him again so soon were too great not to interpret it as a sign, I was meant to speak to this person.

He introduced himself as Mike, a director and he shared this tattoo:

This tattoo represents Aliens building the Pyramids. Mike is into conspiracy theories and the mystery surrounding the construction of these magnificent structures continues to stir the imaginations of humankind after thousands of years.

The tattoo itself was a two-part construction. The flying saucer was the first to be inked.

The artist was James Hamilton at Love Hate Tattoo Studio in Miami. Love Hate, for those who don't know, is the shop featured in the show Miami Ink.

The pyramids were later added by Jason Hoodrich at Code of Conduct in Chicago.

Thanks to Mike for sharing these cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Tattoorism: Erika's Yellow Rose

I've been remiss in sharing Erika's tattoo, which she sent me almost two months ago. So let's have a visit from her lovely rose tattoo:


I'll let Erika explain the artowork:

"...[this] was done at Miami Ink [actually called Love Hate Tattoo Studios]. Not by anyone on the show, as they only tattoo for the show, but they have a group of very talented artists who are not featured. This tattoo has a very personal meaning for me. My mother's favorite flower is the yellow rose, so the rose represents her. I have a very close bond with my mother and tell her absolutely everything, and she means a lot to me. As for the two thorns? Representing me and my sister. Yes, we are the thorns in her side, but we also protect her.

I went into Miami Ink with a couple of pictures of yellow roses, as I wanted it to be just going into bloom (that's when I think roses are at their most beautiful) and told them I wanted it to curve around my ankle bone. They drew up a design in an hour and I liked the very first thing they showed me. I always get comments on it when it's exposed, and it remains my favorite of my 6 tattoos. They did such a lovely job with the shading and I think it's beautiful!

And for the record, it's the only tattoo I have that my mom kind of likes."

Here's a shot of the tattoo, just after it was completed. You can see the source material in the background:


Erika followed up with more information:

"James [Hamilton] (pictured below with Erika) was the artist and he was great. I was in Miami over Spring Break in March 2007 and that's when it was done. Ami James was hanging around the shop when I went, so I got to meet him as well..."

Thanks so much to Erika for sharing her rose tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!