225 days under grass
and you know more than I.
they have long taken your blood,
you are a dry stick in a basket.
is this how it works?
in this room
the hours of love
still make shadows.

when you left
you took almost
everything.
I kneel in the nights
before tigers
that will not let me be.

what you were
will not happen again.
the tigers have found me
and I do not care.

- “For Jane” by Charles Bukowski

Amanda got this tattoo after her mother died of cancer, 5 years ago this past memorial day:

Of all the poems I have read about loss, this one, to me, is the most subtle, the most striking, and the closest thing to describing grief I have come across.  I got these lines done to commemorate both her memorial, as well as for the open ended nature of the quote itself.  I figure the tigers can mean any sort of adversity, and to not care can be either a submission, or a lack of fear.  Because of this, the quote reminds me that it’s ok to feel pain, as well as that it can be met with resilience, and even a sense of detachment, which is essential for forward momentum in life.

They were done by Aron Mathews of 7th Street Tattoo in Little Rock, AR.

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