Tattoo Time by John Grey

A heart is inscribed on a daughter

as a mother dozes before the television.

Upper arms,

inner thighs, become gallery walls

while a late night movie

goes unwatched.

Someone has needles and indian ink.

An open John stall

does for a fancy parlor.

Eyes close to the fact

that R loves W

and skin is dying

to attest to that fact.

Pain and pus

and a little blood

and the handiwork

of a slipshod Cupid

is smuggled home

beneath sweater and jeans.

The mother wakes

to the sound of the key in the lock.

“Love you," says daughter.

"Love you" says mother

but without the scars to prove it.

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John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident, recently published in Orbis, Dalhousie Review and Connecticut River Review. Latest books, “Leaves On Pages” and “Memory Outside The Head” are available through Amazon.