I know I’ve talked about it before but I don’t think I’ve ever covered the logistics.

Shall we then?

I’ve been wanting another tattoo for some time now and have toyed with a couple different ideas but never really fell in love with what I was thinking up or working on. You know, to have permanently attached to my skin.

on my back …

on my toe …

on my wrist …

I am not even kidding. There was this person who was male who was kind of a fling who ended up being a cousin’s husband. It’s kind of weird. And it was a bit of my first taste of freedom. Individualism. Rebellion. So I wrote a poem about my dreams and the trees and roots and then converted it into a rendition of this tattoo I couldn’t stop thinking about.

Then paid for a plane ticket to Washington State (I live in Michigan) to visit family but also cross the border into Canada (with a borrowed car, and an out of state license … and being young, wasn’t convincing to the border patrol) to get this tattoo and my tongue pierced.

I accomplished both and only hid my tongue from my parents successfully for a little while. The tattoo was out of the bag days after returning home. I like mutilation?? I love piercing’s. Always have.

Which is somehow surprising to me that I don’t even wear earrings anymore and all the holes in my face and mouth are otherwise closed. Body art has a completely different meaning to me now.

Maybe you don’t remember or weren’t on the other side of this screen when Naked On Paper launched a couple years ago. I’ve since stopped working with it (a pet project) and started writing most everything I yearned to write over there right here with you. But it is there, in the background. Nothing real pretty – but the words mean something. It wasn’t all me – the authors were some of you, anonymous friends or family. Folks who wanted to be heard or share their story, happiness, struggle. Thank you for that.

So now it’s time to get this new tattoo. All three of mine were created and inked in different states (or countries entirely – Canada, Florida and Michigan but I’d rather not go back to the Michigan parlor I went to) so I’d love a good recommendation if you have one.

What is it, you ask??

Ah, you’ll have to wait and see