"tatoos" poems
Firstly, I'm not a body-shamer.
To each their own
(a good phrase, though grammatically incorrect),
But sometimes I find it hard to understand
The tatoos, the piercings, the colors and placements.
The usual answer, if I dare ask:
I'mhxpressthinmythelf.
Good for you.
Does the diaper pin through your cheek
Tell us you're a Dad or something.
Na.
The quarter inch bolt and nut through your ear?
Are you a machinist or a plumber, or something?
Na.
The doll-house plates in your lips?
Are you a Duck Dynasty fan?
A member of the Audubon Society or something?
No. I'mapontingxprschmyselpth!
Sorry, what was that?
I'mapontingxprschmyselpth.
I'm sorry. I don't quite get what you're saying.
I don't mean to be rude,
But could you express those plates for a minute... I... I get it.
Feb 13, 2017
Feb 13, 2017 at 1:45 PM UTC
Running down that Ecstasy Highway
as fast as my little legs can carry me
I'm blind as a bat with ear plugs
But we were both
searching through this night time
skyway
reaching out to touch some one
and be touched.
All the guide books said this is the way,
turn right at Desire
turn left at Oblivion
and head on down
to the
neon lights, you can't miss it
as long as you are riding that
Ecstasy Highway.
I was told
some people find it at the end of a needle
others wait for the drop of the cards
and there are those who throw themselves
off that mountain side cliff looking for the winds to ride.
Some find it laying with you.
I've gone somewhere else I can't describe
made a wrong turn
thought it was a Transcendental highway
maybe
because I've been up and down,
made wrong turns right and left
made a wrong turn
at the corner of Sanctuary and Bliss.
I'd ask directions but there is not a soul around,
smacking my GPS
lost beyond words
with nothing familiar
in
neighborhoods looming
stark cracked out buildings
and
broken street lights
people with apocalyptic eyes
even the cops won't come down here any more
and the only help I've found
the only guide I have
is delusional and lost
though occasionally profound
dressed in piercings and tatoos
and she keeps yelling at me
something about going home to you.
Too tired to go on.
Had lost that bat back at the beginning of dawn
finally sat down at the coffee shop
at the corner
of
Love and Compassion
ordered up some hot self-acceptance
took a breath and looked around
still looking for the way back home.
I know it's just down the road
a stop light or so
maybe there's an on ramp
or a sign pointing out the way
to get back
on that
Ecstasy Highway.
I stopped at a gas station
talked to a guy
who told me lefts and rights
but my eye lids fluttered
fell asleep
right when he told me what I wanted to know
and when I opened my eyes
the station was closed
not a soul around
and I was running down
unfamiliar roads.
So if you hear a small lost voice
in the night
that's probably the sound of me
standing at the crossroads
of
Self-pity and Remorse
knocking at the Post Office
trying to mail these words
at a place that been long closed.
Please give me a hug or two
and send me on my way
if you give me any advice
I probably won't hear a word you say.
You see
I'm trying to make my way
back again
to that
Ecstasy Highway.
Mar 31, 2014
Mar 31, 2014 at 9:50 AM UTC
We know it by the
Huge blinking lights
From rides that
Tend to make people
Throw
Up
Dairy Queen.
We know it by
Those big, intricate
Winding tatoos
That snake up the arms
Of half of the attendees
That have a message
That I can't read.
We know it by
Little children
Clinging,
Terrified,
To the hands of their
Irresponsible mothers.
And we know it
By inhaling so much
Secondhand smoke
That we're almost positive
That a little lung cancer
Has invaded our privacy.
We know it by
The Herndon Festival.
And we love it.
May 31, 2013
May 31, 2013 at 11:12 PM UTC
"1)..You take your girlfrend. An go
clubbing,after you marry her you want to
stop her from clubbing.....my brother,you
think a miracle will happen??
2)...You have 8 tribal marks ,stretch marks
scattered all over your body,but you still
want tatoos......aahh my frend,are you a
zebra??
3)...You be 6 feet tall,you still wear 6 inch
high heels..my sister,you want to whisper to
God??
4)....You take pictures inside different types
of cars,yet you go say you are not a
cheater..aunty, are you a mechanic??
5)..You gather different pictures of girls in
your phone and you go expect your girl to
believe you are not cheating..abeg uncle,areyou a photographer??
6)...He gave you an engagement ring for over
5years but he never married you..my
dear,are you lord of the rings?
7)...You claim you ate pizza but you go *****
Polony and vetkoek..my friend,are you. a
magician??
8)...Your girl be licking ice cream but you be
drinking pure water.,.my friend,are you
diabetic??
9)..You are 18 years old and your sugar
daddy be 70 years old and you go call him
baby..aahh my sister,that one should be your
ancestor"
Jul 21, 2015
Jul 21, 2015 at 8:22 AM UTC
Hey, aren't you
That son-of-a *****
Whose mother jumped the wall.
Yea! You know who you are.
I spotted you hanging on the corner
Through the windshield of my car.
Were you talking conspiracy,
And planning your next job;
Dealing girls, drugs and guns,
Looking goth macabre.
You know who you are.
I saw you look right back at me
Through the side window of my car.
You were talking to your buddies,
I couldn't hear what you said,
I'm convinced it wasn't good,
By the tatoos on your head.
Yes, you know who you are.
You're still idley standing there,
In the rearview of my car.
Jan 5, 2017
Jan 5, 2017 at 9:17 AM UTC
This poem is for everyone who is reading it at midnight.
It's hard to be encouraging to you.
I'm writing this at midnight.
I can't sleep, either
The never ending rush of existence that lives inside of you,
I feel it
I feel it, too
At night I become a display case,
Showing everyone every shred of me
Every brutal scar that my clothing couldn't hide
Covered up by waking up
Or the clock striking seven,
Forcing another sleepless night
Slowly begining to fade the nightmares from before
Nightmares aren't dreams, they're memories
I show them on my skin like tatoos
All night,
I try and hand my consciousness to you
All night,
I try to convince myself there is a reason to wait for tomorrow
All night I face self loathing and terror
Every night I wish I weren't alone
Some nights,
I remember that I'm not
Aug 2, 2015
Aug 2, 2015 at 10:16 PM UTC
I watch men I do not know.
How they smile,
twitch,
scratch-
how the ***** steel bristles
cut through their cheeks and chins;
their tatoos
dull blue and grey
on sweat washed arms.
How they rub their hands,
push back their hair,
adjust their collars,
breath,
laugh,
belch.
I am looking for someone
I never knew.
I am looking for my father.
If he were near, I could not
let him pass by unseen, unfelt.
Meeting him,
I do not know what I would say.
hello
or
do you know me?
Maybe I would say nothing.
Maybe I would just sit and stare,
like a soldier,
seeing his own arm
****** and torn in the road,
wondering why the fingers don't move
when he tries to make a fist.
Jun 20, 2018
Jun 20, 2018 at 7:24 PM UTC
I am PRISSY
I am WINNING
I am a DAUGHTER
I am a MOTHER
I am a LOVER ...a wife
I am ****** ...and I write it wink
I am a PROFESSIONAL
I am SILLY
I am BUBBLY
I am CURIOUS ...but I'm no cat
I am SUSPICIOUS
Yet
I am TRUSTING
I am BEAUTIFUL ...Inside and out
I am LOVING
I am FLAWED
I am PROGRESSING
I am KIND
I am MEAN ...for a second If pushed
I'm only HUMAN with
Super Human capabilities
I am a BUTTERFLY
I am a STARFISH
I am a RARE FLOWER
Its name is YELLOW YHAMA
I have an ACTIVE IMAGINATION
I have LIVED
I have LOVED
I have LOST
I have GAINED
I have TATOOS ...I want more
I have an alter ego named €HINA
My PROS outweigh my CONS
By day
I am Teyhama Harden
you can call me
"Butterfly"
amongst other things ...ADVENTUROUS!
~ButterFly εїз 2012 ©
Mar 11, 2014
Mar 11, 2014 at 12:34 PM UTC
My parents have been divorced since I was two
this fact has always bothered me
Three
a disrespecting three
Five
an unbelievable number
Luck is not my friend
Cats scare me
Birds
though beautiful
are prehistoric and should have died
Time is at a pause
Orange has always been my favorite color
Love lasts forever
even if you don't want it to
Regret eats at the heart
Music frees the soul
while art expresses it
I'm forever exhausted
So many memories
in so many houses
I can't help but to look up to the sky
for hope?
i don't know
Headaches never cease
Life will get better
i've been told since the age of five
Laughter is my escape
The meaning of life
is an unanswerable question to me
Religion has tortured me
Fire is blissful
Step parents
of where to begin
I hated barbies
The future does not scare me
No bones have been broken
Tatoos?
i want three
Anger is my problem
yet calm
my stance remains
Aug 29, 2012
Aug 29, 2012 at 10:41 PM UTC
the smile on your face
as the will of the other breaks
is a spectacle among them,
i'll tell you that much
how i long to be in the place
of such a lovely end,
buried in that feminine touch
overwhelmed by the pain
looking up at tatoos like
a landmark, this land is
marked and i can see you from
many miles away, now
i'm rushing to the grave with
it engraved in my brain,
i will keep the image as i go
ever downward
Dec 18, 2014
Dec 18, 2014 at 3:32 PM UTC
A collection of poetic tattoos
Permanent upon my heart
Fancy scripted verses
Beneath my chest
Illustrated hope
Penned deep
Artistic ink
Promised
Phrases
Of my
Love
Apr 17, 2015
Apr 17, 2015 at 7:17 PM UTC
All it takes is 1 song to bring it all back.
All the memories I have.
Your touch at the back of my Neck.
Your heavy breathing against my Ear.
The smell of your cologne when our bodies intwined.
As I roll my eyes back and you scent lingers in my nose.
Closing my eyes at night with that 1 song on repeat....
As my mind paints a picture of you, of your tatoos.
My mind reminisce your cologne.
Your hands painting a picture on my back.
That firm grip on my thighs.
All the evidence you leave behind....
Traces of bruises I discover.
Lord help erase all these memories.
I swear water falls everytime I think about you.
Your skin all over mine.
Your heavy breathing.
You always got the reaction you wanted out of me.
Even from a distance you still do.
As the Break of Dawn aproaches.
I still think of you.
As I fall into a Deep sleep.
I dream of you.
Jan 16, 2015
Jan 16, 2015 at 6:01 AM UTC
Did you ever wonder how an Alien from outer space really look? Maybe they have a "Big Head" with a nose like a hook.
If they were to travel down, to our atmosphere, would they be afraid of us, as they draw near.
Some people have their bodies, covered all over with hundreds of tatoos. They have lost their identity, you have to ask, "Do I Know You?"
You may be smart and highly educated, signing up for a job on the internet or blog. Once you step foot into Human Resource, do you think you are going to get a job?
It's important to think, before putting a large cobra snake all over your face. If you are looking to get into Education, this will be a job you cannot take.
By, Sandra Juanita Nailing
Mar 23, 2014
Mar 23, 2014 at 9:55 PM UTC
Pretend to be crazy so you can get away
with doing what's right.
Remove yourself from situations where
you have trouble being and feeling your
true self.
Decrease your connection with anything
that tends to demean your spirit, shrink
your lust for life , limit your freedom,
ignore your soul, compromise your
integrity, inhibit your self-expressiveness.
Love your enemies in case your friends
turn out to be jerks.
Whoever you're longing for has been
changed by your pursuit of them. They are
different from what they were when you
felt the first pangs of desire.
To make them yours, then, you'll have to
modify your ideas about them.
Be careful what you wish for because if your
wish does materialize, it will require you to
change in ways you didn't foresee.
Give yourself another chance, pretend your
wounds are exotic tatoos. Jon York 2022
Jun 14, 2022
Jun 14, 2022 at 12:00 PM UTC
When we can't sleep
What did we do
I never wrote
I had nothing to do
Just like in prison
I was bored to death
I then took pen and paper
And wrote about life
About my past and people in jail
Such a strange place
Like nothing in this world
It is so very different
Nothing like TV
There's still plenty of heart ache
With a lot to see
A lot of tatoos about people's lives
Many different cultures and a lot of fights
I had more laughter then words can tell
****** up lives of people who thought it was hell
Me I got lucky was facing 15 years
From nothing I did wrong
someone didn't like me
It could of been envy or jealousy from what I had.
Whatever the reason, it was something I had
I stayed there a while
Yet they had nothing
Nothing on me
Yet they tried very hard
The time then came
They had to let me go
It taught me how to write
And how to live my life
Dec 27, 2014
Dec 27, 2014 at 4:25 AM UTC