The Tattooed Poets Project: Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan

In the first post of this year's Tattooed Poets Project (here), Vicki Iorio described watching today's tattooed poet, Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan, recite verse while being tattooed. Here is that tattoo, along with some others:

Photograph by Mark Wells

The word "poet" in the center of the back is self-explanatory and was inked by Syxx, at Wyld Chyld Tattoo Studio. Above that is the name "Joey," who is Tammy's husband. That was done by an artist named Kenny at a shop called Z Connection. The piece on the right is a rose, with the names of Tammy's three children and their birth dates, inked by Bob at Tattoo Lou's on Long Island. Dave at Tattoo Lou's also did the memorial cross for Tammy's son Mike, who was killed in 1995. Tammy also has this tattoo on her foot:

That cat paw is for Tammy's cat, Maude, who passed away last October 10, and was done by Jimmy at Wyld Chyld.

Tammy also shared some of her poetry:

POEM#6

I am not the coca cola girl,
the Cheez-It tidbit waiting for you to taste,
the limo ride to the Yankee’s game,
the wrangler jeans chick baking in the New Mexico sun,
and I never was or will be Sunday mornings in spring.

I am the time-ticking-away second hand,
the flat tire on the side of the road,
the too high door jam,
the worn-out tooth brush,
the 59 cents in the ashtray,
the Lunch Poems dog-eared book,
and the who never forgets to tell the truth.

~ ~ ~

SPOONS

I remember when you spoon-fed me ice-cream as we lay in bed on that rainy afternoon
and the way your fingers tasted and your neck had a hint of sweat and I closed my eyes
and you drove away the dark and I called your name in a low, soft moan.

I remember when you spooned sugar into your morning tea on that sunny Tuesday
and I watched you drink as if you were a foreign film I could not understand
and your smile told me my poetry made you hunger for more than a nine-to-five life.

I remember when you spooned dirt into the flower pot and filled it with mums for me
and I was peeking out the window seeing you bent down working away humming
and I decided then that I was not who I wanted to be without you in my days and nights

And I remember how after you left I packed away all the silverware, including those
spoons and I gave the box to the Salvation Army, hoping for some salvation of my own
and I drove away from our town knowing I would never see another sunset like you.

~ ~ ~

Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan is a very busy woman. She was appointed Suffolk County Poet Laureate for 2009 – 2011. She is founder and president of The North Sea Poetry Scene, Inc. and The North Sea Poetry Scene Press. She was nominated for Pulitzer Prize in 2006 for her poetry book, Let Me Tell You Something. She is
listed in Poets & Writers, has penned 4 chapbooks, is Poet-in-Residence at Southampton Historical Museum, an adjunct Professor at Briarcliffe College, the editor of the Long Island Sounds Anthology. She hosts TNSPS’s Arts Forum TV Show on Channel 20 on Cablevision in Riverhead, N.Y. and serves as the Lead Poetry Jurist for the East End Arts Council, Riverhead, N.Y.

Currently, Tammy is creating an archival/arts center (www.lipoetryarchivalcenter.com) for Long Island poetry that will be a gathering place for poets. She is also currently working toward an M.F.A. at Southampton Stony Brook University.

Thanks to Tammy for sharing her work, both written and tattooed, here on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2011 Tattoosday. The poem is reprinted here with the permission of the author.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

Niki's Memorial for Elizabeth

Last week I was down in Chelsea when I spotted Niki from a distance. She appeared to have a colorful Madonna-like tattoo on her right shoulder, so I changed course and caught up to her only to discover this lovely tattoo instead:

This lovely photo was supplied to me by Niki, as my own camera's battery had run out of power and my BlackBerry photo seemed inadequate:

Niki explained that, after her beloved cat Elizabeth passed away, she wanted a memorial tattoo to honor the friend she had for fourteen years.

She went to artist John Reardon, then at Saved Tattoo, and told him she wanted a memorial in the style of the Virgin of Guadalupe, and the look of Mexican shrines and altars.

One can see Reardon hit the ball out of the park, as proven by my mistaking the piece from a distance as a religious icon.

John Reardon is no stranger to Tattoosday. His work has appeared previously here and here.He now works out of his private studio in Brooklyn.

Thanks to Niki for sharing her beautiful tattoo with us on Tattoosday!

Jessica Shares Some of Her Tattoos before Pearl Jam Plays the Garden

I had it all worked out. Last night was the first night of the Pearl Jam concert at Madison Square Garden. Even though I wasn't going, I would see plenty of ink right next to where I work. Pearl Jam fans are prolificly tattooed (see this site as proof). What could be easier?

One guy didn't want his tattoos photographed. And he was wearing a t-shirt for a tattoo shop on Oregon. In my disappointment, I forgot what it was called.

Another guy was in town from Italy to see the band. I think the language barrier was an issue.

But I am not generally discouraged. There was, however, a vibe. A general sense that something bigger and better was going on besides indulging the hobby of an almost-41-year old blogger in dire need of a haircut. And of course, they were right. Pearl Jam was returning to the Garden after five years. Really, Tattoosday had to take a back seat to that.

But thank goodness for Jessica. She was thoroughly inked and indulged me. Granted, she seemed a little bemused by my exercise and a little disinterested, but she did let me take some photos and gave me cursory explanations. Alas, no Pearl Jam tattoos, but she still had some cool ink.

This was her most meaningful tattoo:

It's on her left wrist and is the autograph of Jonathan Davis, lead singer of Korn. He signed it, and she inked it. Jessica has her own tattoo gun machine, and does some touch-ups and basic line work here and there. Embarassingly, when she said it was Jonathan Davis' autograph, I couldn't connect the name to the face right away and I asked who he was, knowing full well that doing so would make me look like a total dork. And I was right. Of course I knew who he was, I just didn't compute it at the time.

Here's Jessica's left arm:

She likes crows. She has seven in all. She didn't tell me why the cheetah was significant. If you look at her right arm, you can see a sliver of an amazing piece that I didn't photograph, but should have. It was amazing piece that encircled her forearm.


And here's her upper right arm. That's Pig-Pen from Peanuts, which was one of her nicknames growing up.
And on the bottom is Mokey, a "primary Fraggle" from Fraggle Rock. Mokey was also one of her nicknames from very early in life.

Thanks to Jessica for taking the time to chat with me when so few people seemed interested in sharing. I am celebrating my birthday a week early at the show tonight (Wednesday), so we'll see if any tattoos pop up here on Thursday (or Friday).

UPDATE JUNE 29, 2008:

Jessica followed up with me and wrote the following:

I may not have any Pearl Jam tattoos, unless you count that my nickname is Mookie (Mokey from Fraggle Rock) since I was a toddler, from my dad. My mom calls me Pigpen cause she's a obessive complusive neat freak who thinks an open TV Guide is a mess...

I've idolized Jonathan Davis from Korn since 1996. To finally meet him was amazing. I always thought I'd be starstruck and lose my composure, but didn't. I held a conversation with him. Wow. How did that happen? A group was forming around the tour bus. He came out...to sign autographs. I told him he was my idol for 12 years, and asked if he could sign my wrist. So he grabbed my wrist. On the outside I was fine, but in my head I turned into a 12-year old boy band fan thinking OMG OMG HE'S TOUCHING ME DON'T FAINT!!

The Mokie tattoo, above, was inked by Troy at K & B Tattooing in Hightstown, New Jersey.

3rd Avenue Festival, Bay Ridge, Part 4

While my kids were bouncing around in the Moon Bounce-a-rama, a woman named Helen approached and her child joined my girls in their attempts to defy gravity.

Helen had this awesome tattoo on her right arm:


Helen explained it: The wolf, combined with the female symbol, and the letter A, or alpha, combined to represent that she is the alpha female in her family.

She had this tattoo done by the artist Dan Brown at the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, a tattoo and arts convention in Maine.

The wolf was inspired by a woodcutting. She added the symbols for the alpha female. Her husband was the alpha male, but he sadly passed away two six years ago.

I then asked about her left arm, which had the following piece:


This is St. Francis, patron saint of the animals. The cat is present because Helen rescues cats, and currently has ten (10!) living with her. She credited Lynn Dulaney as the artists of this tattoo, also done at the Mad Hatter's Tea party. In fact, she advised me, all of her work gets done at Mad Hatter's.

I must have raised my eyebrows, as Helen appeared to have only these two tattoos. She revealed that she had 11 tattoos in all, not typical for a school teacher from Queens. These two were the only ones visible, and, had she been wearing a shirt other than a sleeveless one, you'd have thought she looked the part of a tattoo-less educator. She acknowledged that some times its best not to be seen as having tattoos by the students and/or parents. Although if one of my kids' teachers had tattoos, the family would think it was cool.

Thanks to Helen for talking with me and sharing her tattoo stories here on Tattoosday!

Update: After Helen posted her comment below, I updated Lynn's name with the correct spelling and linked her page at Moving Pictures Studio, in Wooster, Ohio. Also, I thought it would be nice to link the page from the New York Times "Portraits of Grief" with the blurb Helen's husband Liam. Helen, if you do not wish to have me link this, please let me know and I will remove it. Liam's brief portrait is at the bottom of the page and rolls over to the next.