The process of this tattoo-making
requires a steady hand, unshaking,
so a continuous line can be laid
down by the needle’s glass blade.
Precisely like a surgeon’s scalpel,
but above the skin,
this moving line will begin
almost feeling palpable
of the practitioner’s art:
she, who draws from imagination
and an experienced heart
a unique creation.
The brown dye stain that remains gradually fades
away in shades like a beautiful memory.
In Morocco, henna tattoos are most common on the hands and feet. They are thought to bring good luck.
After retiring as curator of historic maps at Princeton University Library, I moved out to Port Townsend, WA, and have traveled widely, preferring remote, natural settings. Since that transition, I’ve published Waypoints (2017), a collection of place poems, Twenty Questions (2019), a chapbook, Delicate Arch (2022), poems and photographs of national parks and monuments, and Galápagos (2023), a collaborative chapbook of my son Andrew’s photographs and my poems.