I don't have tattoos for various reasons. One reason being that I could never make up my mind. I'm all for ink representing something bigger than yourself, but I would never be able to choose anything that represents me.
But I think for people who do have tattoos, they don't worry about that. They accumulate the ink as a sign that more than one thing represents them, and more than one symbol has meaning. And that is just fine.
As for me, I do not bear any visible tattoos. I've come to realize that my inked patterns lie under my skin. It flows through my veins. And every now and again, I let it bleed through my fingers. I let others see what represent me.
My words are the tattoos on my heart and I like to take them off and show the world sometimes.
I bear them like scars, showing both my strength and weakness, my hardship and victory, and my pure humanity.
My words are carved into the deepest part of me and they whisper that I was made for better places that this.
And no amount of trouble or pain can remove my tattoos, no amount of persecution can force them to leave me,
My words, my tattoos are forever, always accumulating, and representing me and my change. My heart is a canvas yet unfinished, and my veins are vessels through which the ink will flow. And my fingers are the needles that will prick and stain for every word that flows through my veins.
So let the ink run like a river
and see where it goes.
SK
