blue grievances

as old as the olive tree
reads the text on the body
fished out of the river
in the blue light before dawn
the line decipherable
body still a cypher
but the word is out

in the beginning the word,
the riddle, the clue
poetic self-effacing
small tattoo
waits for a face and a name
to replace the black figures
on the anonymous stiff blank sheet

as the man at the morgue
numbers the nameless
in dingy dimlit rooms
nothing is white anymore
even at the height of noon

dark corners untouched
by thin sunlight, streaming
through bulletholes in metal doors
through the eye of a needle
silver needle retracing
new blue greivances
not snakes, tigerheads or proud flags
no bold these colours don't run

but first name, last name, tribal name
diligently picked out
by a fine arts graduate, raw tattoist
tattoing over and over
a rollcall of death

a thin woman with corrugated skin
and her own blue-green tattoo on her chin
and calm dark eyes
brought in her great grand-daughter
last of the line, moon faced,
red-chipped polish on bitten nails
plaited hair and red ribbons
orphaned and cast back
two generations

there's a waiting list:
the dull-eyed, drained
of imagination
prozac zombie nation
the bitter, counting off their dead
on accusing fingers
the rosary-clicking crowd
agree to anything
on the one condition
positive identification

few cared to recall
a past to be dredged
for that identifying mark
for the word, shape, pattern
that would tell their story
once they were faceless
but the younger generation
wears pragmaticism
like a new coat
get a tattoo in case you die
make it look good in case you live

no guarantees,
the self-made tattoist says
he turns his palms up,
they are even as the scales
of justice, blue 18
and 81 filling in the lines
no promises, no refunds

they discuss what part of the body
is most likely
to survive unscathed

and the neighbours children wear
themselves to school everyday
name, D.O.B, address,
denomination, (digitally
altered to protect their identity)




blue grievances: poets against war
article: grim tattoo subculture emerges amid daily violence

11/07

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