Poetry / Tattoo (Analysis)

I dig it.  Reminded me of a friend of mine who recently spent 6 hours getting his arm from shoulder to elbow tattooed (sp?) on his 30th birthday of St. Michael.  

His wife gave him that portion of his body to tatoo, she said she gets the rest.  It was his first tatoo, it’s pretty crazy.  

As for the poem, I think if you elaborated and put it in prose it could be a pretty good short story describing the thought process of some guy who wants to get a tatoo and then can’t make up his mind about what to select.  And give the reasons why, you’ve done it with the “Rosalita” part but could expand on it.  I think it could be pretty entertaining.  

Anyway, nice work.  I can’t decide what I’d get for a tatoo either.  Hence, I don’t have one.

alco

Overall great poem! Love the imagery used in this piece. The line, “I’ll look quite the fool at my autopsy after Rosalba finally cuts me with the Ginzu steak knife or pushes me down the escalator at the food court.” is very funny an entertaining.

I take it this is where the idea for your screen name came from, but I could be wrong.
I love this poem. It’s the only one I can think of reading that involves tattoos, so it’s definitely something new which is always good.

’...find that word
that everyone in this mall will look on and despair
when they read it off me, despair for
the buzzing superficiality
of life so far: a word that will make them
cast away their cell phones
and run for the exits.’
XD It sounds like you want to get people to be afraid of you, like maybe the narrator is supposed to be some hard-ass criminal. The first chunk of words should maybe be split up because it is so much larger than the other two, but if it works for you then keep it.

My guess…you would like to get a tattoo.  So at least I’m with you to this point.  Honestly, I have never read a poem about tattoos.  As far as your criteria is concerned, your clarity is good, not too interpretable, but as far as poetry, I’m not certain you wouldn’t be better served making some subtle changes and calling this prose.

Tattoos in today’s culture have become mundane and routine so I am with you in your quest for meaning.  Ironic that tattoo’s symbolism from past cultures were centered in tribal unity and conquest, coming of age, and other ritualistic rites.  Today, we have entered the realm of the tramp stamp.  Steer clear of that and rest assured that your permanent imprint will mean something…at least to you.  

This poem is quite interesting.  I like the corralation between the tattoo and yourself.  Trying to find the one thing that sums you up in a nutshell.  Not something that anyone else has, or might want.  Something that is uniquely you.  ”Both inflammatory and antiinflammatory” is an excellent way to put it.  Overall, I enjoyed it.  Nice work.

I found this read extremely amusing and yet, very many truths written that most of us have thought about…at one time or another. It would be nice if we all had a crystal ball that allowed us to see what the future holds, especially to that pertaining to transitioning. If we could only think of the many significances of a tatoo before we get one…after all…it is so final …so it seems?  Very nicely written.

Great-bit of humour, can’t quite hear the voice (as you can with some good poetry), not sure why though.