Shelby Wilson | Real Women Have Tattoos

in Poetry
Real women wear their tattoos below the surface of the skin
Permanently painted on by tragedy
Shuffling around the pain of love’s despair
Etched in the foundation of their experiences
Marks imprinted on the soul
 
Real woman conceal their tattoos among the pain
Riding the edges of their memories
Only to peer out when being attacked
Or when left in a vulnerable state
Cracked, faded by the clock of time
Stretched by inflated promises of happy endings
 
Their tattoos are not glorified pictures or scenes depicting greatness
Significant words of valor
They are the wounds of the past
Carried beneath the flesh
Like parasites waiting for reentry
To eat away at the happiness
Blocking chances for bliss
 
Real women wear life’s tattoos
On their aging faces
Sad eyes with embedded lines fanning out
Tattoos are displayed in their walk
Heard in their speech
Seen in their actions
Attempting to cover the mistakes of the past
But they peer from underneath skirts
Making their presence known
 
There are a few women who wear their tattoos
Like badges of honor
Showing the wars they entered
The battles they won to become who they are
It’s the pain they endured which gave them strength
They flaunt them proudly
As if to say “you left a mark but I’m still here”
 
Real women wear tattoos
Printed across their hearts
Carved in their minds
Reflected on their bodies
They come in all shapes, sizes and heights
Color and ethnic backgrounds
They tell a story with their life
Woven into pictures and scenes
 
Their tattoos are not always seen
They’re painted on the words and the phrases you hear
Like “I love you”
“I’m down for you”
Spoken in bold phrases that chime through the air
Such as “I’m through and I left a long time ago”
 
Real women wear their tattoos
Hidden yet exposed beneath their clothes
Decorated in their emotions
Floral prints of their essence
Smeared, brushed and splashed
On the canvas of life
Leaving fragments of their hearts
And traces of their souls

 

Shelby Mahogany Wilson

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