Tattoos - A tapestry poem with Shernaz Wadia

Shernaz's poem


she survives your spitefulness
inked indelibly on her tattooed psyche
past years mute alibi to the sting

with your spiky jibes hematoma
has discoloured the dermis of her mind
it’s scarification is grossly brutal

but the poison of your reprisals
has not crushed her courage; her doughty
spirit has in fact devastated you


My poem


All they need is a young mind, raw from within and
hurt by the deep scars of history. Some come as
india ink on paper - called Koran, or Bible or Geeta -

indoctrinated into the brain by incessant repetition.
Some as the chants of priests and monks, in strange
intonations often accompanied by incense. Or blasted

from loudspeakers, a call to arms against imagined foes.
They all leave scars, fresh for a new generation to be
inked. Not everything requires a sterilised steel needle.


Tattoos – Tapestry



They survive your spitefulness - young minds,
raw from within, hurt by the deep scars of history
inked indelibly on their tattooed psyche;

and past years mute alibi to the sting. Not
everything requires a sterilised steel needle: all
you need is india ink on paper, called

Koran or Bible or Geeta. Hematoma has
discoloured the dermis of their minds,
indoctrinated by incessant repetition of

your spiky jibes. They all leave scars, fresh for a
new generation to be inked. The scarification,
 in strange intonations often accompanied

by incense, is grossly brutal. But the poison of your
reprisals – some come as the chants of priests
and monks, or some as a call to arms

against imagined foes blasted from loudspeakers
into the brain –  has not crushed their courage. Their
doughty spirit has in fact devastated you.

(First published at Rate My Literature, 26 June 2016)

What is tapestry poetry?

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