Sarah Nichols, the Peacock and the Cobra (The Tattooed Poets Project)

Today's tattooed poet is Sarah Nichols, who shared this cobra-peacock mashup:

Sarah tells us:

"This is my first tattoo. I had it done in February, 2017, right before my 43 rd
birthday; I had wanted one for a long time, but it always seemed like the time or the money wasn’t right. It was done at Witchhouse Tattoo (@witchhousetattoo) in Hartford, Connecticut, by Courtney (@czar_baebatron) , the shop’s owner. The tattoo is a cobra with a peacock’s head, and it is after the work of artist James Prosek (@jamesprosek), specifically a drawing entitled The Peacock and The Cobra. For me, both animals are elegant and fierce; as a hybrid creature, it is beautiful and strange, and that comes across in the tattoo."

Sarah also shared the following poem, which is from her chapbook of Sylvia Plath/C.D. Wright centos, She May Be a Saint, which was published in 2016.

Other Bodies

In my flammable skin,
I grow shadows.

Blood, substanceless.
An arm
a face
birthmarks.

A box of poison
too pure for longings.

A body,
flickering.

My new instrument.

~ ~ ~

[Sources: C.D. Wright: “Girl Friend,” “Autographs,” “Because Fulfilment Awaits,” and “And it Came to Pass.” Sylvia Plath: “Ariel,” “Death and Co.,” and “Fever 103.”]

~ ~ ~

Sarah Nichols lives and writes in Connecticut. She is the author of seven chapbooks, including This is Not a Redemption Story (dancing girl press), Dreamland for Keeps (Porkbelly Press) and Little Sister (Grey Book Press.) Her poems and essays can also be found in Glass: a Journal of Poetry, Memoir Mixtapes, Rogue Agent, and Dream Pop.

You can read more of her work by clicking through the following links:
https://www.dreampoppress.net/sarah-nichols/
http://www.glass-poetry.com/poets-resist/nichols-narcan.html
http://www.lunalunamagazine.com/blog/poetry-by-sarah-nichols

Thanks to Sarah for sharing her cool tattoo and lovely poem with us here on ralphnolannoble's Tattooed Poets Project!

This entry is ©2019 ralphnolannoble. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.

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