Miss Artoria Gibbons, The Tattooed Lady
To claim I’d been tortured
isn’t far from the truth — yes
the pen sears and indigo marks
start as blood, but the stigmata I wear
sets me apart from staying put, to sway
away, the fifth of seven (or second of sixth, or)
daughter in a closed-in clan, starved
to watch & wash never-changing hard-scrabble
survival, at least I’d see the world, travel
a different sunrise, smell a new scent
outside this place of no choice.
To insinuate sex pens prick my skin
to unspeakable acts, code for what clients –
spectators, you — want to know: they are not
savage, they are clean, they aren’t you.
And you aren’t them, backbreaking drudgery
worse than a man-made freak
in a sideshow, I’ve got the rail and cars
the promise of a new place day after
tomorrow sealed in my skin.
* * *
Aha! A poem (in need of revision) for the first Big Tent Poetry prompt: the persona prompt! Find others’ ideas on the theme at Big Tent Poetry’s “Come One, Come All” post.
My poem idea is based on (several women & overarching themes from) a book Carolee gave me a few months ago:
A book that celebrates a shared experience, if separated by a few thousand miles and a few weeks. The cover happens to be of Miss Artoria Gibbons, a woman who joined the circus at age fourteen, having met her future husband at a soda fountain. He said she could run away to the circus if she wanted to be a Tattoed Lady. He was a tattoo artist. She was poor. Tattooed ladies made more money than average male workers did, in those days. Her choice is written on her skin.
Related posts:
Being a big fan of the Body Arts, and having reread “The Illustrated Man” recently, and watching the movie just last night, it is nice to be reminded that those outside the fringe are not really. It’s the perception, and the fringe that fluctuates and flows. I very much appreciate the way that is demonstrated here in this piece. Great write, and read. I particular appreciate the historical background. Thanks for sharing it , and for your efforts in the BigTent.
Jack
The not-so-bad-TV-show, Criminal Minds just did a take off on Bradbury’s “The Illustrated Man” stories — not bad television — but definitely not the 1969 film starring Rod Steiger and Claire Bloom — that was magic.
Thanks for reading, Jack. I’m glad you liked the background. I wish I had done even more with that!
I’ve got the rail and cars
the promise of a new place day after
tomorrow sealed in my skin.
Such wonderful play with penetrating and sealing, escaping and being caught. And of course the narrator is being penetrated and perpetrated and sealed up by you, too. But I think she gets away in the end :-)
She does get away! xxoo
“the promise of a new place day after
tomorrow sealed in my skin.”
Great story behind the poem, wonderful poem!
Thank you, Linda!
tattooed lady has to be among the most contradictory of icons. receptive, the canvas. but she makes the choice, and wears it
of course now we have magic tattoo erasers, so the bravery isn’t quite the same
Thanks for reading, Barbara. I’d like to have gotten to the idea that for the lower-class woman with little education, being a canvas was the only high-paying career choice in the circus.
As I prepare to head out for my day of “backbreaking drudgery
worse than a man-made freak in a sideshow,” I will beconsider Ms Artoria words. Thanks.
Thanks for reading, Ron!
Deb, I like how you write the tension between the pain and the reward. Of course nowadays fully tattooed bodies are a dime a dozen, well not really but definitely no longer a freak show.
Thanks, Irene.
Nice work. Her tattooed body has become a map of her journey in life. Well written.
Melanie
I like the map analogy, Melanie. Thank you.
I love what you did with this historical little snippet. You really put yourself in her place. I especially liked the end of the first stanze where she/you speaks about escaping her old life…could that be a bit autobiographical? (to me, the best poems have bits of that woven in.)
Super job!
That part isn’t exactly autobiographical, but I like that you think it could be. :-0
I like the closing lines, in which her skin becomes a map. Great image.
Thanks, Dave!
“the tattooed lady” trips off the tongue…it would be fun to hear you read it. I was struck by “This place of no choice.”
It certainly is interesting to see what rises in the personas from this prompt!
I should try recording it, Brenda. Good idea (& that would help point out some of the problems, too)!
I feel sorry that Miss Gibbons is no longer an oddity or special.Everything becomes common place eventually.Sixty years ago the Resistance shaved off the hair of women who fraternised with the enemy. It is amazing now to think that was considered a punishment . Sorry wandering a bit. Good poem.
I like when readers wander — poems should be diving boards, in my opinion. Thanks!
I love “travel a different sunrise.” You really get to the heart of her!
Thank you so much, Linda!
Deb,
Great take on the prompt.
“To insinuate sex pens prick my skin
to unspeakable acts, ”
Love all that is said here.
Pamela
I’m so glad, Pamela.
The pioneering spirit that helped people overcome the “never-changing hard-scrabble/survival” is the same that compelled Ms Gibbons to run away. Can’t help wondering though if she ever regretted it?
I didn’t read that she did, but the lower-class didn’t leave many written mementos of their thoughts.
look at all these thoughtful and amazing comments!!! :)
i love that the marks start with blood and i love that the needles aren’t savage “like you.”
very very cool.
Thank you! And for the inspiration, too. I think there are more tattooed lady poems inside me. :-)
Deb, this is quite the gorgeous poem. I love the tension between her freedom and her confinement.
I’m so glad you think that, Jessica. Thank you!
Ah! The things we do to escape – the things we do to stay put – the things we do to fit in – the things we do to stand out! How tightly intertwined all these different personal needs and realities are. Great poem, Deb!
Thank you, Paul!!
Lots of powerful images here!
“you — want to know: they are not
savage, they are clean, they aren’t you”
There’s a lot going on and think about in this poem.
I’m glad you think so, Robin.
From one Tattooed Lady to another: Enjoyed your maps and pictures! Looks like a great book, too….
Hi tattooed lady! Thank you for reading, and for writing!
The line about the rail, cars and new place sealed in my skin is such a strong evocative image.The tension in her life is palpable.
Linda
check out my poem: http://word-painting.blogspot.com/2010/05/whats-happening.html
I’m so glad. Thank you, Linda.
I like this a lot. Especially this “the stigmata I wear / sets me apart from staying put, to sway / away,” a really nice bit that hints at a certain pride she may feel in the choice she made.
Cool. Thanks for that, James.
Indelibly fine! Her history sounds fascinating – penned in permanency and sketched in trial. Love it!
Thank you, Sue!
I really appreciate the nuance of this poem’s perspective, how she makes peace with her choice but recognizes it’s probably not the path she would have taken in an ideal world.
Thanks for pointing that out, Francis. It’s great to read what people “get out of” the poem.
Sounds like a captured escape into her own skin and her skin into the world. Everything lies just under the surface here, emphasizing how much is bound in that surface.
(I always will think of Lydia, however. Can’t help it. Oh, have you seen Lydia? Lydia the tattooed lady?)
I know the Lydia lines simply ring in my ears.
Thanks for that perspective, Jason. I was hoping it wasn’t unsettling.
Wow. You’re all so generous with your comments! Thank you for visiting, for being part of the Big Tent. Wow.
I’ll reply better a little later. I still have a lot of reading I want to do. :-)
she was drawn to him =)
:-)
Deb this is beautiful, love your poem.
Thank you, Uma!!
wow, sounds like the life to me… the way you expressed her life bringing her thoughts to life…not in an inseemingly sad way but giving her purpose…and more so her everyday life that she chose.. those last three lines dynamite!!!
Thank you!!
This poem is glorious for me, the sound and flow and background of it. I walk away with the idea of becoming a self-made freak to escape. I know people who’ve done that, one way or another. And I like that you gave her a name as well as her role title. That catches the whole sense of the poem just in the title. Wow!
Thank you so much, Victoria. I’m humbled.
Wow. This poem sparkles, especially in your use of language, which made her come to life. Well done.
-Nicole
Thank you, Nicole!!