Where Gabe Johnson Comes From (The Tattooed Poets Project)

Our next tattooed poet is Gabe Johnson, who sent us this photo of a very interesting tattoo:

Gabe explains:

"This tattoo represents how where I come from influences my being and writing, as well as my relationship with writing. The ink flowing into my veins is a metaphor I’ve often thought about as a young writer – feeling like my poems were something coming out of me that had laid dormant inside. Within the ink are two symbols of where I come from. The Viking ship represents my Icelandic heritage, which seems to me like my poetic lineage. The Icelandic people value poetry incredibly highly, and most of my direct relatives along that part of my family are or were involved in poetry in some fashion, whether as writers, publishers or teachers. The oak tree represents Northern California in general, where I grew up and where I have spent all of my life. The landscape, flora, and fauna of oak grasslands especially feel like home to me, and influence my writing greatly. I chose the specific design because I wanted a very simple look of a pen and ink drawing, which a friend of mine drew, and the tattoo artist (Sam McWilliams @sammcwilliams of Mermaids Tattoo @mermaidstattoo in SF) reproduced beautifully."

Gabe also sent us this short poem:

Rehabilitation

Begin again with all your breath. Trace the coast’s soft shoulders, the fogless cove and columbine. Your knee will follow, kiss the sand—shards like nettles on new skin. The highway lined by tiger-lily, oak like moss on slumping hills becomes sequoia, thimbleberry trails. You know each river rock was named, saw scaled bodies leap against the flow. You’ll set your newest scar against lost particles.

~ ~ ~

Gabe Johnson lives in Oakland, teaching English and US History to 8th graders. He is a graduate of the MFA program at Saint Mary’s College of California and his work can be found in Switchback, Philadelphia Stories, White Stag, and Poecology.

Thanks to Gabe for sharing his tattoo and poem with us here on Tattoosday's Tattooed Poets Project!

This entry is ©2017 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.

If you are reading this on another website 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: Chandra E.A. Dickson

Our next tattooed poet is Chandra E.A. Dickson who sent us this photo:

Photo by David Quick

Here's the piece in a little more detail:

Photo by David Quick

Chandra tells us:

"This tattoo was given as a gift to me for completing my MFA at Wichita State University by my dear friend Ryan Drake. He tattoos at Freaks on Noland in Kansas City. He can also be followed on instagram under the user name draketattoo. Ryan and I went to college together, and I owe many of his paintings. This tattoo is his 35th tattoo. He has done 100s now. 

The poem [below] is from my chapbook, A Short History of Our Love. There are many references to birds in my work, which is why I decided on a sparrow as both an image for my work but also for my tattoo because of the old saying "God never forgets a fallen sparrow" and at times we all feel that we have falling in some way or another."

For Jimmy

You called Thursday—8am—4 your time—to have phone sex, but I already had on pants and hadn’t heard from you in weeks. Your voice sounded as if you had been drinking for days. When I asked if you were ok, you said there had been no luck finding a bear to make friends with, a woman to keep my side of the bed warm, or a job on a fishing boat. The glacier’s peak calls you to ascend. Cracking ice in the middle of the night, the sound so harsh, not at all like wind against wheat, kept you awake. I tried to tell you about the thousands of sparrows that flew north over the church steeple, how empty I’ve felt since you left. 

~ ~ ~

Chandra E.A. Dickson received her MFA from Wichita State University and currently teaches at a small community college in the middle of the Plains. Her first chapbook, A Short History of Our Love"(Finishing Line Press), won the Kansas New Voices award in 2013. Her work has appeared in various online and print journals. She is currently working on her second chapbook, learning how to cook, and taking too many pictures of her children and pets.

Thanks to Chandra for sharing her tattoo and poem with us here on the Tattooed Poets Project!

This entry is ©2015 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.