Ink

 

"Each body has its art."-Gwendolyn Brooks

 

My tattoos smile smugly

when I turn over

my arms and inspect

pieces of memory

forged into my skin -

 

Never gave much thought

to where they should go

or what fantastic

colors they should be in -

 

Always went with what

my heart said, call it

impulsive but that's

how I did it, so deal -

 

If each body has an art,

mine's a gallery,

a series of canvases

donated to the cause

of enlightenment and

shattered stereotypes -

 

 

 

Ryan McLellan is a performance poet, singer/songwriter and English teacher from Exeter, New Hampshire. His poems recently appeared in Literary House Review, Essence, Open Mic Review: Jazzmouth, and Roadkill Zen. His two chapbooks, Prove Me Wrong and no more an idol than you were published by Sargent Press.