Seth has the honor of being the only previous tattooed poet to return to the site this year. And he has sent us a quintet of tattoos, choosing the theme of "tattoos which have faces on them." And away we go:
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| Photo by Ashley at http://ashleybergphotography.com/ |
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| Photo by Ashley at http://ashleybergphotography.com/ |
Next up is this Lego piece:
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| Photo by Ashley at http://ashleybergphotography.com/ |
Next up is this piece:
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| Photo by Ashley at http://ashleybergphotography.com/ |
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| Detail of photo by Ashley at http://ashleybergphotography.com/ |
Finally, we have a jack-o-lantern on the inside of his left bicep:
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| Photo by Ashley at http://ashleybergphotography.com/ |
Seth explains that "all of the tattoos, with the exception of the skull and bones, were completed by Claudia "Billy" Baca at Saint Sabrina's in Uptown, Minneapolis." He notes, "however, she currently works in Austin, Texas at Bijou Studio."
As for a poem, this is what Seth has offered to share with us:
"Constructing a Proper Torch"
Douse the head of a cat tail
into a soapy mixture
of Dawn brand dish detergent
and gasoline;
reinforce the stem
with a steel rod or femur;
set the head ablaze;
open your face to the air.
When paper cranes
spill from your mouth,
remember to light the dark,
sew feathers to your fingertips.
When the cranes,
spilling and multiplying,
request grain and berries,
snacks of rodents and amphibians,
tell them that hunger is an essential
component of flight.
When, from the ground,
they are unable to ascend,
lend them your stitched fingertips
and take to the sky on fire.
~ ~ ~
Seth Michael Berg earned his MFA in poetry from Bowling Green State University in 2003 and since has been bouncing around the country teaching, tending bar, sculpting, writing, and occasionally snowshoeing. His poems and fiction can be found in Connecticut Review, Lake Effect, Word Riot, JMWW, 13th Warrior Review, Chiron Review, BlazeVOX, Pike Magazine, and Disappearing City Literary Review, among others. His first book, Muted Lines From Someone Else's Memory, was winner of Dark Sky Books book contest in 2009 and rolled off the press summer of 2010. He has since been city-hopping on lecture book tour and will next be in Chicago at the end of April. Berg lives in Chaska, MN with his photographer wife, Ashley, their supernatural son, Oak, and their Saint Bernard, Icarus. When not working, Berg can most likely be found indulging his addiction to hot sauce or slowing down somewhere in a forest. Here is a book link with audio poems and other goodies: http://darkskymagazine.com/books/seth-berg-muted-lines/.Thanks to Seth, once again, for his invaluable contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project!
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Faces /
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