Contrariwise: Literary Tattoos Over 600 tattoos from books, poetry, music, and other sources.

Howl

This belongs to Meaghan and represents Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl.

Rockland

This is Ashley Weidner's tattoo.

I spent hours with printouts of Ginsberg's handwriting to try and re-create it as best I can, to come up with this, my most memorable refrain from HOWL.

I'm with you in Rockland
where you laugh at this invisible humor
I'm with you in Rockland
where we are great writers on the same dreadful typewriter
I'm with you in Rockland
where your condition has become serious and is reported on the radio
I'm with you in Rockland
where the faculties of the skull no longer admit the worms of the senses

- Excerpt from Allen Ginsberg’s Howl (full text)

Howl

This tattoo belongs to Emily.

Real holy laughter in the river! They saw it all! the wild eyes! the holy yells! They bade farewell! They jumped off the roof! to solitude! waving! carrying flowers! Down to the river! into the street!

- Excerpt from Allen Ginsberg's "Howl".

ecstatic and insatiate

This is Leyna's tattoo.

It's from Part I of "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg.  The entire stanza reads:

who copulated ecstatic and insatiate with a bottle of

beer a sweetheart a package of cigarettes a candle and fell off the bed, and continued along
the floor and down the hall and ended fainting
on the wall with a vision of ultimate cunt and

come eluding the last gyzym of consciousness,

Leyna says:

... I thought better of tattooing that much obscenity on me. "Ecstatic and insatiate" seem to capture Ginsberg's own vision of New York City, as well as the sentiment I feel as I begin my sixth (!) year living in Manhattan or an outter burough. I'm a huge fan of the beats and love having a piece of Ginsberg's work.

Done by Derik @ Hand of Glory in Brooklyn

Allen Ginsberg

Submitted by Doc Luben:

I'm with you in Rockland
where you laugh at this invisible humor
I'm with you in Rockland
where we are great writers on the same dreadful typewriter
I'm with you in Rockland
where your condition has become serious and is reported on the radio
I'm with you in Rockland
where the faculties of the skull no longer admit the worms of the senses

- Excerpt from Allen Ginsberg’s Howl (full text)

Allen Ginsberg

"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix..."

- Allen Ginsberg, Howl

(submitted by bophie)