The Tattooed Poets Project: Jim Cavill

Our next tattooed poet is Jim Cavill, who hails from Canada.

Jim tells us he has three tattoos, "including a half-sleeve of a typewriter surrounded by various letters and writing instruments:"

Here's a more formal collage of the work:

Jim tells us:

"I got my typewriter half-sleeve around 2008-2009 at Living Colour Tattoo in Ottawa, Ontario. My artist's name was Ben Zehner. I had the idea for the tattoo in my second year of university at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. I was majoring in English and was pursuing writing and wanted something which would represent my love of language and the written word. I tell friends who ask that the typewriter on my arm is akin to having one's lover's name inscribed on their skin."

Sadly, Ben Zehner passed away in 2011. He had moved on to Wilmington, North Carolina, where he met one of our former subjects, Kitty, as documented here.

Jim sent us this poem:

Floaters

And you pissed
All you were
Into a coffee can,
Affixed masking tape,
And scribbled on
Impermanent dreams
In permanent ink,
Filled it with styrofoam
Packing peanuts
That were too dry anyway,
And you set it floating.
You were laughing,
But not when it bobbed out of sight.
You said “Now,
We shall see,
If I make my fortune,
Or if it makes me.”
And I saw the can split,
Spill your heart into the sea,
And the packing stuffs
Came rolling home.
But I never told you
(until just now)
Because I was busy
Keeping your love afloat.
Kicking against the current,
As we were floated
Further from home.

~ ~ ~

Jim Cavill is a Canadian writer, poet, and editor living in Ottawa, Ontario. Jim has had work published in numerous publications including Highbrau, Konekt, Blueprint​, and Zouch Magazine. Jim enjoys writing novels and leaving them unfinished.​ You can find more of his work at www.jimcavill.com. ​

Thanks to Jim for his contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2015 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.

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