The Tattooed Poets Project: Katie Ford Hall

 

I got my tattoo in 1992 when I was 25.  I had been considering a tattoo for awhile and decided on a Claddagh to honor my Irish roots.  My grandparents were immigrants and I look the part.  I've always felt very connected to Ireland and whether it's nature or nurture, I seem to embody a lot of the well-known characteristics.  For the design, I used a ring I had been wearing for years.  I consider it good luck because no matter how hard I try, I never seem to be able to lose it.  I took it to Designs By Dana in Cincinnati, Ohio and one of the artists copied it onto my left arm.

The Thing Itself

There’s a shadow
outside my kitchen window –
falling on Japanese maple;
sweeping over swing set.

A corner of the
eye distraction from
the scraping of a
crusty pan

then again a flicker
as I turn around to say
‘chicken’s ready’

there was a me
who became a secret –
when the time came for
a me
to set an example –

the secret dances across grass
on the cool dew of
thick summer nights

reckless and unbounded,
compelling and unglued.
oblivious to
consequences,
blind to
ramifications

Dancing
born of a
shame and hunger

denied by laughter
denied by wet heavy air
and denied again --

three times
before dawn

Sacrificed at
the altar of the
inevitable
And laid to rest
in the tomb of
the proper

A life that can’t be
sustained must be
set free,

traded for
half acre lots
stainless steel
appliances
and the dream of a
freer next
generation

But there’s
still that shadow.
I suspect
it’s me

and I suspect that
shadows
resurrected
fall just beyond an

infinity of
suburban
kitchen windows.

Never mentioned
barely noticed  
banished to
the edges of
anxious eyes

 ~  ~  ~