It is not the word made flesh in writing that we want, in fiction and in poetry, but the flesh made word – William Gass

When I was a child tattoos were associated with sailors and bikers but that day is long gone. It seems the masses have tattoos. Not me. I don’t even have pierced ears.

A book was recently published on the subject of literary tattoos. I love the idea of a literary tattoo. I often thought that if I WERE to get a tattoo I would do a feather pen with a few ink drops coming out of the pen.

But an actual quote from a favorite book? Hmmmm…..had to do some thinking....so many books...so many great lines…but I think it would be this line from The Little Prince.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; What is essential is invisible to the eye."

Of course that could change tomorrow–which is why I’ll never get a tattoo-that-well it hurts doesn't it? And I'm only a couple of years away from sagging skin and those beautifully tattoo words will end up looking like streaked or melting ink.

Ewwww

And what about copyright infringement? LOL – see I’m always thinking – of course if I stuck to Shakespeare like Megan Fox did I wouldn’t have to worry about copyrights.

How about my own writing? Is there a line I would pick from my own tomes (a big LOL) to have sketched into my skin for all time? Yes the first stanza from one of my poems – here it is

praying
God's grace
blankets the earth
in peace
wrapping mankind
in HIS
warm embrace

So what about you? Do you have a tattoo? If so what is it? If not what line or passage would you choose whether from your own writing or someone elses?