Ink

No Ink
Reprimanded
Cheerful well-lit rooms
“Don’t write on your hand with that pen!”
“It is bad to have ink on your skin.”
“Permanent markers could be toxic.”
And, “Never, ever, get a tattoo.”
Words you should not forget

First Ink
Nervous
Darkened basement
Stick and poke tattoos
Five small permanent dots
Map of a battle plan against rogue cells
A forever reminder
As if I could forget

Kinship Ink
Exhilarated
Brightly lit studio
Amid a riot of graffitied buildings
Specialty equipment
Twenty years since my first ink
A symbol of unity among those joined by blood
As if we could forget

Temporary Ink
Dreading
Low light of the holding area
After signatures on mountains of paperwork
My surgeon inscribes her initials on my skin
Indicating where she will cut
A seemingly endless day
My partner will not forget

Removing Ink
Desperate
Glaring light of the operating room
She signs her initials yet again
Written notice to the invading cells
One of the first ink spots was sacrificed
Yet she saves the kinship ink as she works to save my life
This kindness I will not forget

Disappearing Ink
Hopeful
Unseen light beam heals by destroying
Boundaries defined with markers that fade
Now just a memory
Its work is shown
By the changes to my skin
My body cannot forget

Healing Ink
Determined
Light from inside
Writing words
For someone walking through
Their own journey with ink
They may be out there somewhere
This I must not forget

• • • • •

Look for this poem and other stories in the June/July 2022 issue of Wildfire Magazine. www.wildfirecommunity.org. @wildfire_bc_magazine

Notes:

During radiation therapy skin may be marked with permanent markers or pinpoint tattoos to facilitate the precise alignment of a patient’s body for treatment.

A surgeon may sign their initials, or another agreed upon mark, at the intended location of an incision. This is a safety protocol used to prevent wrong-site surgery.

Icy Winter Morning

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