Michael Bedford
The Tattooed Man
See me writhe
with each imbedded pain and grief
embellished on my flesh.
For years,
masters in the art of dread
and terror
have worked upon this skin.
The memory of their needles,
each pattern
and plan
written on my sleepless nights.
With what skill they plied their craft:
nimble fingers
recording despair and loss,
and now
the tattooed man
bares his odyssey
for all to see.
The ink is hardly dry
on my greatest works,
this map
in pink leather
my history.
I would scratch
with blood stained fingers
the story from my skin,
but I read this tale
in grim fascination
absorbed
in its design.
Come see the tattooed man
and read my living art.
Page(s) 130
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