Benjamin Posted March 23, 2013 Share Posted March 23, 2013 The darkest and lightest of affiliations: badges of fashion.. of ancient ideals. Multiple colours that exhibit the soul like a mango: halved, cut and turned inside out. Food: for a curious world of make believe scrolls, symbols and studied fears; where murder and death stand with loyalty, faith and honour and love is still the greatest prize. Thieves of attention: indelible outcasts of the unblemished. The tribal mindset of refugees-in-ink: an aspect of the self, with singular yet overlapping shields, a synergy of the past, an identity..... today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 This is my second attempt at writing something reasonably interesting on this subject. It followed a good natured conversation with friends.. who seemed more amused at the profusion of tattoos on corpulent flesh of (mainly unattractive) devotees. It's a subject that touches many others so I've tried to be fairly concise without being cryptic.B. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badger11 Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 The darkest and lightest of affiliations: badges of fashion.. of ancient ideals. Multiple colours that exhibit the soul like a mango: halved, cut and turned inside out. Food: for a curious world of make believe scrolls, symbols and studied fears; where murder and death stand with loyalty, faith and honour and love is still the greatest prize. As I read this part of your poem little illuminations of understanding were registering. The delivery of the mango was inspired. Fab. badge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 Thanks for your comments badge. I'll probably have another stab at this from a different angle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdelano Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Geoff, as usual, I react to your work in my own fashion. The "badges of fashion" are reminiscent of military ribbons and medals--worthless bits of color intended to retain the recipients' fidelity. Thank you for a poem I can personalize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 It's not a great stretch to include street art/graffiti along with other such things that have secular personal meanings for those who subscribe to their existence. G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglas Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 fabulous! Quote To receive love, you have to give it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tinker Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Hi, I haven't seen the original but this revision is certainly a polished poem. I loved this line " The tribal mindset of refugees-in-ink:" .Yes a rite of passage. My husband has a couple from when he was in the service (He is a vet of the Korean War.) No tats on me but women of my generation rarely got them Thank God. Some tatoos look cool on the young but as we age they just become a blob of ugly but of course the young can't imagine themselves old. ~~Tink Quote ~~ © ~~ Poems by Judi Van Gorder ~~ For permission to use this work you can write to Tinker1111@icloud.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin Posted April 7, 2013 Author Share Posted April 7, 2013 Thanks for reading douglas. Tink. The original was written in triquains but didn't feel right somehow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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