The Tattooed Poets Project: Christine Hamm

Today's tattooed poet is Christine Hamm:


Christine, a fellow Brooklynite, explained her tattoo as follows:

"Why my tattoo? Is it a museum on my arm? Is it some kind of message from outerspace? Children run to me just to touch it: ask me what the words mean, what I'm trying to spell. There are no words, only water.

For many years, I had been thinking about getting matching tattoos of waves splashing up my calves to my knees, as if I were wading in the ocean, perpetually. I thought about the cost, I thought about how the tattoos would look with a miniskirt -- I realized that if I got them, I'd always want to be wearing jeans rolled up to my knees and salt-stained t-shirt. I can't carry seashells all the time in my pockets, I can't be brushing the sand out of my hair every five minutes. So I decided to take less of a plunge, enter the water one arm at a time. It started off quite slow. Are you sure you don't want a fish, the artist kept asking me as we mapped out my image on tracing paper. Everybody else gets a fish. Just water, I said, just waves. The tattoo was to celebrate --- some kind of new awakening, finally going back to grad school to get my PhD in Lit like I always wanted, finally believing I could achieve something more. The waves are Asian-inspired; many who see my arm mention Hokusai, but the water is not taken directly from him. I was thinking of Zen when I finally decided on these particular waves; I was thinking that if I could just be in the water, neither sinking nor floating above, if I could just be. Water has always suggested to me some kind of slower, purer imitation of our world, something more real and less sharp. Not just amniotic fluid, not just rain, but the color, the there-not there texture, the kiss of it."

And that explanation, my friends, is one of the many reasons I love the Tattooed Poets Project.

She credits the work to Mike Bakaty at Fineline Tattoo NYC on 1st Avenue in Manhattan, who inked this about three years ago.

Christine is a PhD candidate in English Literature, teaches at CUNY in New York City, and was runner-up to the Queens Poet Laureate. Her second book of poetry, Saints & Cannibals, is coming out this spring. For more about her, go to her blog here.

To read a poem from Christine, as part of the Tattooed Poets Project, head over to BillyBlog here.

Small Tattoo

The wrist is often the perfect place to put a small tattoo. That’s because the wrist is smaller and therefore accommodates a small tattoo design better. But, that’s not the only reason. It’s also because the wrist is a sensitive place to have ink done. So, of course a small tattoo would take less time and therefore take less time. Take a peek at the small tattoo in the picture. This individual has decided to get a small crown inked onto his wrist. Now, crown tattoos have several meanings but the most significant has to be as a symbol of royal power and authority. As a symbol, the crown also symbolizes leadership, and the rightful authority which comes from being elected by a group to serve as their leader. Just like the kings of old used to wear crowns on their head, the bearer of this tattoo has decided to wear a crown on his wrist. This small tattoo was done in black and white but it could have just easily have had color introduced into it. Of course, that would have taken just a little bit longer and would be more painful, so maybe this person made the right choice after all.

This small tattoo on the woman’s neck is probably the most discrete neck tattoo I have ever seen. See, normally I would advise in getting a neck tattoo because it’s very hard to disguise or hide. And then when you tried to get a job dealing with the public or were in something other situation where it was advantageous to hide the design you would be in trouble. But, this small tattoo of a heart is almost barely noticeable even when this woman’s hair is held up. And this small tattoo also has another advantage over other neck tattoos. It probably only took about five minutes, if that long, to get stenciled and inked into her skin. And I rather like the heart tattoo. It accentuates the natural beauty and curves of this woman’s neck. Getting a small tattoo like this on the nape of the neck might actually be something that you will continue to enjoy for years to come. Especially when you factor in that this part of the body changes very little over time. What other designs can you think of that will go unnoticed like this small heart?

Swallow Tattoo

Swallow tattoos are a popular design that can have many different meanings all over the world. For a sailor the swallow tattoo was widely known as a status symbol. The swallow tattoos were meant to protect the sailor on their journey yet, others believed that if a sailor died at sea and had a swallow tattoo on their chest that it would fly their spirit to heaven. For this reason, swallow tattoos were a great comfort to sailors. The first swallow tattoo meant the sailor had traveled 5,000 miles and the second tattoo meant they had traveled 10,000 miles. Swallow tattoos are also a symbol of working-class pride, mostly in the UK. Swallow tattoos are also at times used in prison as a sign for "white power", a gang tattoo at times. Then again some freed prisoners get the swallow tattoo as a sign of freedom. Interestingly, both good luck and bad are attributed to the swallow. Some legends warn of a swallow flying through the house, since it brings tidings of displeasure from the gods, and likely foreshadows bad luck. In China it symbolizes daring, danger and a change for good in the future. But, when you come down to it only you can determine the meaning of your swallow tattoo.

Swallow tattoos are rich with history and symbolism all over the world. For thousands of people over the centuries, the little bird can be linked to health, wealth, loyalty, and the rigors of long distance travel, especially at sea. A symbol of hope for the return home, of loyalty to one’s family and home, of freedom, the swallow is a beautiful choice for a tattoo, whether or not you plan on spending your days out at sea. The swallow, as well as bluebirds and sparrows, has always had a symbolic meaning for sailors because, before modern navigation technology, these birds were usually the first sign that land was near. Another fact is that swallows return home every year, no matter where they are, thus symbolizing a safe journey home. But, one of the most impressive meanings of the swallow tattoo is fidelity. The swallow is a bird that chooses a mate for life. So, it’s only natural that it not only symbolizes a persons soul mate but also loyalty to the family. But, keep in mind tattoos mean different things to different people. Only you can decide how to explain the meaning behind your skin art, each has his or her own unique symbolic interpretation.

Sun Tattoos

When it comes to sun tattoos it is somewhat obvious why these tattoos are popular. After all the sun is universally known as a giver of life and that alone gives way to many meanings that can be attached to sun tattoos. Sun tattoos can be drawn in a great variety of styles and to be honest, even though I have seen thousands of sun tattoos, this is the first time I have seen one with an eagle in the center of it and I cannot be sure what the meaning behind that is.

Perhaps having the eagle in the center of the sun has something to do with adding some power and grace of movement to the already known meanings of the sun. Such as saying that the sun is a powerful giver of life. There’s no way to be sure without talking to the person who did it or who has it. But I have to admit that I do like this tattoo. It is very well done and the silhouette of the clutching eagle in its center is very intriguing indeed. While this tattoo is a bit tribal in appearance I am not at all certain that is what it is meant to be.

The sun tattoo is reflection of the Sun’s profound symbolic nature in most cultures around the world. The sun was worshipped as a personified, life-giving deity in Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and almost every other major civilizations of history. The most common symbol of the sun is a circle with the sun’s rays emanating from the perimeter. A dot or point in the center of a circle symbolizes the blending of male and female forces. The sun is usually seen as a masculine symbol and the moon and the earth as feminine symbols, hence you will often the Sun symbolically paired with the Moon or the Earth. For many millennia the Sun was believed to be at the center of the Universe, around which all other heavenly bodies radiated. The Sun was a symbol of both royal and divine powers, adopted by both secular and religious authorities. As a tattoo design and symbol, a Sun represents fertility, vitality, passion, courage and eternally renewed youth, light and knowledge. The Sun tattoo is such a pervasive symbol that many other tattoo symbols have a direct relation to it. The Sun was represented by the following; an Eagle, an Eagle with a Serpent, a Dragon, a falcon , phoenix, swan, lion, ram and bull.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Mark Nickels

Today's tattoo comes to us from the poet Mark Nickels:


Mark explains:

"This tattoo dates from the end of the Clinton era, I'm thinking 1997, 1998. It can't be true, but getting a tattoo feels like the last unmotivated thing I did. No regrets, I just can't remember exactly what it was all about. You forget about it and then glimpse it in your steamed bathroom mirror and think, Oh. Uh....freedom, or something like that...not so much the word as the feeling, sort of a lovely, aimless, Saturday morning feeling you don't recall having had lately."

If I may interject, I love hearing things like this, because I often ask people about their tattoos, and they dismiss them, "Oh, well, it doesn't mean anything," they often say, as if that somehow makes the tattoo less interesting. However, tattoos often symbolize times, places, memories, or feelings, and Mark is able to capture that perfectly in his explanation of the tattoo.

He continues:

I was interested in medieval stuff at the time, especially medieval and Renaissance music, and found this griffin design in a book of Dover copyright-free medieval motifs. A very good artist at Dare Devil Tattoo drew it freehand for practice, referencing the book, then started on my arm and tattoo'd' it straight off. It hasn't faded much, as you can see. I remember I asked for red and yellow, outlined in black, and that's exactly what she gave me.

Mark Nickels lives in New York City. His book Cicada was published by Rattapallax Press in 2000. He has won the Milton Dorfman Prize (1996), the Ann Stafford Prize from USC (2002) and been a finalist and semi-finalist at Lyric Recovery Festival (Carnegie Hall). He is a 2006 New York State Arts Foundation Fellow in fiction, and two poems from his 2o00 collection were recently selected for inclusion in the on-line archive of the Poetry Foundation (aka Poetry).

Thanks to Mark for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday! Please be sure to check out one of his poems (one that mentions a griffin, too!) here on BillyBlog!

The Tattooed Poets Project: Nikoletta Nousiopoulos

Today's tattooed poet is Nikoletta Nousiopoulos:


This tattoo is on Nikoletta's left bicep. At the time she got it, she was researching the Tarot and she felt especially connected to the card representing The Lovers. She explains that "the original card had a giant angel in place of the Eyes of Ra. I preferred the eyes over the angel."


This was her second tattoo and was inked at Skin Grafix in Groton, Connecticut.

Nikoletta Nousiopoulos holds a MFA in Poetry from New England College. Her poems have appeared in elimae, South Jersey Underground, 2River, and Harpur Palate. She was a 2010 finalist for the Philbrick Poetry Award, and was a winner of the 2009 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize. Her first book all the dead goats was released in 2010 from Little Red Tree Publishing.

Check out one of her poems over on BillyBlog here.

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