girl with tattoos

just a letter/ journal sort of entry

“Why a tattoo?” “It’s gonna get gross when your older” “why ruin your skin like that?” I hear this a lot. Why this; why that. People try to decipher things they know nothing about. My body, my choices; put up on display all because I’m a girl in a town with more churches then people and even in this day and age tattoos are considered bad in this small Tennessee town. So instead of having you categorize me any longer, let me explain my reasons.

Dear people of Madisonville:

                Tattoos are art. I think we can mostly all agree that art has deep meaning and is all beautiful in its own unique way. Well my meaning behind my art is personal. Instead of seeing the scars the cover my body I can now see ink; each ink stain meaning something different while covering things I regret. Instead of shame I can now see beauty; instead of sadness, I see pride on my skin.

                “Till humans wake us and we drown”. That was my first tattoo. It’s a line from a T.S. Elliot poem; though the actual line is “till human voices wake us and we drown”. But I find my quote to fit me more. A human voice a cant wake me from my dreams; but a human grabbing me and forcing me back into the real world can. A human can take my dreams of being free and at peace and happy, and shove me back into this dirty, violent world that we are all forced to accept is the norm. To have that as a reminder on my skin tells me to keep my dreams alive; to not let humans wake me from them.

                So you can ask “why a tattoo” and I can give you this answer. Or maybe I’ll just say it’s none of your damn business. Maybe it just depends on what type of human you are…and if you have tried to wake me from my dream.

                      Sincerely, the girl with tattoos.

                

Reviews

[therisa]

Bravo, Braylin. I wish I mental ink to cover my scars, which people can't see. For me, piercing are like this, my attempt to express myself, a symbol of the struggle, I am fighting and hoping, am winning. Besides, I have seen some very beautiful artwork on the canvas human, as I travel throughout my city. Although, myself, I will never get inked, but admired those, who do.