The Tattooed Poets Project: Rob Talbert

Today's tattooed poet is Rob Talbert, who was pointed in our direction by Adam Deutsch.

Rob has seven tattoos, but points out that 80% of his back is covered. The tattoo he submitted for us to enjoy has special meaning for him:


Perched on his upper back, a quick glance might prompt someone to say "What is that?" Clicking on the photo will enlarge it for better detail. But more importantly, iy's not really about what it is, but what it represents to Rob. We'll let him explain:

I lived in Corpus Christi, TX for three years. It's one of those towns where there's an impressive absence of entertainment and an overabundance of bars. I've always wanted tattoos and decided it was a suitable time to get inked since all my money was going to booze. And college. Those are synonyms, I think.

Forever Art Tattoo is a small shop in the corner of an eroding shopping center along South Padre Island Drive. The first time I walked I met Jim Sweeney, a hardcore biker who never opened his eyes all the way, called me Brother, and spoke in a very loud monotone voice. I liked him immediately. It was obvious I'd never been in a tattoo shop before and, though I didn't know it at the time, he was charging me very reasonable rates. Jim wound up tattooing my whole back and did a damn good job of it. Most of the work is custom, and a good percentage was done free-hand; some people don't trust their spouses that much.

My favorite aspect of this particular tattoo is that it's original. It's not something I pulled off the wall or brought in to him. This tattoo doesn't represent something in MY life, or MY ideas, or MY friends and family. It represents Jim completely and independently artistic of me. Jim conjured this from the depths of his mind and my only instructions were "give me something badass." I believe he did.

Wherever you are Jim, I hope you've got a good looking woman and your bike is riding smooth. Thanks Brother.

From what I can tell from the shop site and their MySpace page, Jim is still going strong.

Please head over to BillyBlog to check out one of Rob's poems here.

Rob Talbert is a native Texan and currently pursuing his MFA at Virginia Tech. His poetry has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, The American Poetry Review, Ninth Letter, Painted Bride Quarterly, and Southern Poetry Review. He was selected for 2009 Best of the Net and nominated for 2009 and 2010 Best New Poets.

Thanks to Rob for sharing his tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Spike's Tattoos Are Out of This World

Spike stopped and talked to me several weeks ago outside of Madison Square Garden.

His right forearm bore many different stars and his upper arm displayed the solar system.

I didn't get all the details that I wanted to, as there was a lot of information to process, but I filled in the blanks as best as I could to get a very loose interpretation of his star art.

This theme, in particular, was the most fascinating aspect of his tattoos, because his cluster of stars are all uniquely designed by different people, from children to friends.

This one was drawn by a five-year old:


Spike said he and the child's parents were fascinated by the inner design, and only later discovered he had been trying to replicate the NY logo of the New York Yankees.

I labeled each star in my notebook, but didn't get much elaboration.

Here's a star comprised of Star Trek logos:


And an atomic representation of a star:


I'm not sure about this one:


The Madonna star?

This star with sparks shooting out of its points was also drawn by a child, an eight-year old:


And this complicated one incorporated many symbols, including an ankh, a cross, and the circle revolving around the star is a peace symbol:


Spike did not identify the six-pointed star as a star of David, but as the symbol of Solomon:


And another:
And another:
I believe there were eight in all, and Spike acknowledged he would most likely add more if the right design came along at the right moment.

Here's part of the Solar System:


The Sun occupies the elbow and the planets revolve upward. Saturn can be seen near the shoulder. Here's a closer view of the Earth and her satellite, our Moon:


The two different sections of Spike's arm are unified under the celestial theme.

On his other arm, on the bicep, the theme becomes more fantastic:


What appears to be a space ship racing away from an exploding planet is precisely that.

The tattoo represents Superman as a child fleeing the exploding planet of Krypton.


Much of Spike's work was tattooed at Avalon II in the North Park section of San Diego.

Thanks to Spike for sharing his intergalactic tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!