tattoo

Last night I drew a lightning bolt on my knee.  Patti Smith is one of my many idols, I think she is a true artist.  Sometimes I draw the lightning bolt on my knee to keep me going because Patti Smith has the same tattoo on her knee.  The book Just Kids changed my life, here is the part about her tattoo...

page 183

" I thought of something I learned from reading Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas by Mari Sandoz.  Crazy Horse believes that he will be victorious in battle, but if he stops to take spoils from the battlefield, he will be defeated.  He tattoos lightning bolts on the ears of his horses so the sight of them will remind him of this as he rides.  I tried to apply this lesson to the things at hand, careful not to take spoils that were not rightfully mine."
The things at hand being all the offers she had received after her first poetry reading/open mic.  She turned down a record deal because she felt it came too easy.

I texted merriweather today and without knowing any of this she responded "I was just talking about you and Patti Smith" this represents a)how we are completely connected and b)that my musing about getting the same tattoo should probably become a reality...

I have always loved tattoos and i have tons of respect for the people that get them and have no regrets about them.  They are so personal, but many times very visible for the world to see and assume what they mean.  I like the idea of the lighting bolt mostly because it's on Patti Smith and any connection to that has got to be good karma but she was inspired by Crazy Horse to get hers and I am inspired by her to get mine so it just represents how all artists work, we get inspired by something and put our own twist on it.  It's a way for your art to live longer than you and that is what it's all about.
Medusa