Tattoos: Deluxe Tattoo

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Minggu, 12 April 2015

Vincent Francone's Angel and Devil Tattoos (The Tattooed Poets Project)

Our next tattooed poet is Vincent Francone. Vincent has two amazing tattoos on his upper arms:

Vincent explains:

"I got the angel tattoo first. It was meant to be a caricature of my (then) girlfriend (now my wife). A year later, I decided to get a demonic version. I was looking to create a theme-- the angel on one shoulder, the devil on the other. That sums up my life-- always fighting to decide what to do with two distinct voices in each ear pulling me in opposite directions. The shop for both was Deluxe Tattoo in Chicago. The artist was Tim Biedron."

Incidentally, work by Tim Biedron has appeared previously on Tattoosday here.

Vincent sent us the following poem:

A True Account of Talking to the Sun in Chicago

The sun wouldn’t take my call

at first, so I insisted,

sent a friend request,

bombarded him with emails

until finally, out of frustration,

he relented.

“Francone, what is it?

What’s so goddamn important

you have bug me

while I’m working,

which, in case you didn’t realize,

is always?”

“Well…” I had nothing

to ask, I just wanted

to be in contact,

but the sun insisted:

“Let me guess,

you’re hoping to be

the next Mayakovsky

or O’Hara

the first two poets I spoke to

but—sorry to be

the bearer of bad news—

lots of minor poets

have invoked me in

their minor poems

and pretended to speak with me

so I no longer have much

to say to poets

minor or major.”

I was dejected,

as you can imagine,

but pressed regardless

like a stubborn dog:

“Couldn’t you

advise me anyway?”

“Sure,” he said:

“go and get your MFA.

It might be folly,

and a lot of cash

it’ll cost but it’s worthwhile

if you’re into writing balderdash.”

“I’ve tried,” I lied,

“but it was a drag,

more times than not

I wrote what my

professors wanted,

which was a lot of rot.”

“I’ve seen it,

your grad school verse,

and I’ve seen your others;

you could do a lot worse

than write what your

professors want.

But you could probably

do better, but

who cares?

Poems won’t change

either of us.

And there’s so damned many!

Who can read them all?

I used to keep up

but I’m tired—

too much being written, I’m

overwhelmed. Francone,

why add to the deluge?”

“Because,” I said,

“where else

but in a poem

would I get to use

the word deluge?”

He rolled his eyes,

said: “That’s the trouble

right there: when

in everyday conversation

would you use deluge?

Never—so why put it

in a poem?

To make your poem seem

like a poem?

That’s the cheapest

poet’s trick.

It only further

alienates the audience,

which is a small lot

to start with.

Better stick to straight

talk, nothing so

polysyllabic

and no tortured symbols!

Keep it direct,

keep it pure,

just say what you feel

and try to feel something

other than self-pity,

dull as all get out—

don’t bore the poor world

with your self-doubt.”

I had no retort— no more

to state, having indeed

done as the sun said

not to do too often,

written bad poems

riddled with ennui

that I had no right

to have pretended to feel;

I wrote them because

that’s what I thought

a poet did—that’s

what I was taught.

“Hogwash,” said the sun,

reading my thoughts.

“Of course I read your

thoughts—a good bit better

than your poems.

Anyway, if that’s what

they taught you,

then you’d best forget

all you learned

in graduate school.”

“How can I? The bill

comes each month.”

“Well,” said the sun,

having the last word

as he always will

“looks like you’re the fool.”

~ ~ ~

Vincent Francone is a writer living in Chicago whose work has appeared in Spectrum, Rhino, New City, The Oklahoma Review and other journals. He won 1st prize in the 2009 Illinois Emerging Writers Competition and is polishing a book for publication. Read his blog at www.zombiedante.blogspot.com and look at his collection of smug writer poses at www.faceandhands.blogspot.com

Thanks to Vincent for his contribution to the tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!

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Kamis, 17 April 2014

And? Michael Robins Punctuates the Tattooed Poets Project

Next up in the Tattooed Poets Project is Michael Robins, who sent us his Ampersand tattoo:

Michael shared some thoughts on his tattoo:

"I trace my history with typefaces as others might relationships or the cars they’ve owned: Palatino after one too many pints at the Low Brow Lounge; Garamond keeping me warm through graduate school; my current adoration of Perpetua. Perpetua is what I wear on the days I don’t leave the house. On most days, I know the chance is slim that my published words—the ones I’m typing now—will appear in my chosen typeface. We do not control language for long, if at all.

Yet we try. When I’m writing a poem, I painstakingly gauge the length of each line and adopt the ampersand, which consumes less space than 'a-n-d.' When it comes down to it, the ampersand offers flexibility for the remaining language and punctuation. There’s aesthetic pleasure in the shape of a single poem, and the energy I give to line lengths can reach the point of obsessiveness.

And new obsessions arise. With the birth of my daughter, I feel compelled to celebrate her life in my poems and, eventually, with a tattoo. A large 'Emerson' on an outer forearm? The letter 'E' between the elbow and shoulder? The skyline of Chicago floating over the roman numerals of her birth? Time marches forward as I wait for that perfect image to arrive. As a male living in the United States, this year (2014) marks the statistical midpoint of my life and the beginning—if lucky—of my second act. Hence, in Perpetua, a new tattoo: '& ______'

The ampersand is an acknowledgement, the empty line a challenge. How will I finish the phrase? With what outlook will I navigate each day? What adjective? What noun? Who do I want to be in the next chapter? What type of husband and father? How much an artist?

Less than a week after conceiving the design, I walked through the door of Deluxe Tattoo [in Chicago]. After learning that I teach creative writing, the tattoo artist, Stephanie White, shared how a high school teacher showered her writing with praise, but ultimately gave the failing grade that kept her from graduating. This story, like any in which someone is disheartened by a teacher, upsets me. I believe, however, that the past shapes who we are in the present, and Stephanie seems to love the route she’s travelling. Because our routes have crossed, I also believe that her story is now partially my own: On a cold, February night, a gifted artist inks an ampersand in the middle of my life."

Michael sent us this poem:

from In Memory of Brilliance & Value (Saturnalia Books, 2015); first appeared in Redactions

Songs from the Second Fiddle

Wagons arrived uninvited, introduced
powders & spade to the flora & fauna.

They set up fences, they tested smoke
inside a cage. Praising as well cascaded,

set in a postmodern pattern. My own
plans held in place with glue, balanced

& threaded & droppings like dimples
into middle age. I stood for blindfolds

erasing the bruising story. I led a horse
to a waterboard but couldn't make him

shrink: not a secret plan, no thimbling
where the pianists vanished into grain.

The sky overhead was green, the land
blue, owls flew in a storm approaching.

We felt a cleansing presence on behalf
of pining. My own heart lit & remained.

~ ~ ~

Michael Robins was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of three collections, including Ladies & Gentlemen (Saturnalia Books, 2011) and In Memory of Brilliance & Value (Saturnalia Books, 2015). He is also the author of chapbooks Circus (Flying Guillotine, 2009) and Little Felons (Strange Machine, 2013). He teaches literature and creative writing at Columbia College Chicago and lives in the Jefferson Park neighborhood. For more information, visit www.michaelrobins.org.

Thanks to Michael for his poem and tattoo, shared with us here on the Tattooed Poets Project!

Kamis, 10 April 2014

The Tattooed Poets Project: Simone Muench

Our next tattooed poet is Simone Muench, who sent us this photo:

Simone explained the birth of this tattoo in great detail:

"In 1999, after a challenging year, I decided to mark the year by bleaching my hair platinum, getting inked, or going bungee jumping—the tattoo won, and became a birthday present to myself. It was an illustration that had enchanted me for years. I first discovered the sketch in a slim book, published in 1957, which I purchased at a thrift store for $2.

It was a version of the Duino Elegies translated and illustrated by Harry Behn, who is known primarily for his children’s books. I loved the simplicity and strangeness of his Miró-like illustrations. I’m less in love with the translations though I love Rilke, and have always been struck by his notion in Letters to a Young Poet that love consists of 'two solitudes [that] protect and border and greet each other.'

Behn’s sketch echoes Rilke’s quote, as it demonstrates two figures in shadow being both separated and bound by another figure (absence; solitude).

In the days when I frequently played pool, one of my pool partners, Ben Wahhh, offered to tattoo me. Two years previously, in 1997, Ben had opened up Deluxe Tattoo on Irving Park Rd in Chicago. Not only is Ben a wonderful tattoo artist, he’s an incredibly kind human being. You can read a lovely article about Ben Wahhh and Deluxe Tattoo [here].

The process took about 3+ hours and cost me a modest $100 dollars. Afterwards, we visited a Chicago bar called the Black Beetle to shoot pool and celebrate my new, beautiful (and leaky) tattoo, which is now 15 years old and still vibrant; I've only had it retouched once. Few people notice my tattoo nowadays due to the constantly expanding tattoo industry, but when I was freshly inked, many people commented on it, often thinking it was a fake due to the rectangular shape and bright colors. I even had a man approach me while I was dancing at Danny’s Bar, and attempt to peel it off my back because 'it looked like a stick-on.' "

Simone also sent us the following poem, which was first published in Poets & Writers. She prefaces this stating it, "is a cento whose first line highjacks one of the lines from my favorite section of Rilke’s 8th elegy:

And we: spectators, always, everywhere,
turned toward the world of objects, never outward.
It fills us. We arrange it. It breaks down. We
rearrange it, then break down ourselves. (Stephen Mitchell, trans.)

~ ~ ~

Wolf Cento

We: spectators, always, everywhere

with goldpinnacled hair & seascapes

of a pale green monochrome,

we wanted to be wolves:

strange animal with its miraculous elusiveness—

a step toward luck & a step toward ruin.

Old circuits of animal rapture & alarm

have stained the sun with blackened love.

The question of the wolves turns & turns.

[Rainer Marie Rilke, James Joyce, W.C Williams, Frank Stafford, Marianne Moore, Edith Södergran, Robert Duncan, Osip Mandelstam, John Berryman]

~ ~ ~

Simone Muench is the author of five full-length collections including Orange Crush (Sarabande, 2010) and Wolf Centos (Sarabande, 2014), as well as the forthcoming chapbook Trace (Fall 2012 Black River Chapbook Award; Black Lawrence Press). She is a recipient of a 2013 National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, two VSC fellowships, two Illinois Arts fellowships, a Yaddo residency, an Artsmith residency, and the Bright Lights/Big Verse PSA Award. She received her Ph.D from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and now directs the writing program at Lewis University where she teaches creative writing and film studies. She serves as chief faculty advisor for Jet Fuel Review. You can read more at simonemuench.com

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