
The Tattoo Parlor Before Launch
We each choose the pattern
of line that separates
keep from repurpose –
a band below the knee where
the tech slashed a thin purple marker
across our skin illumined by the super-
imposed green light grid.
We go together, in case
we must perform this service
for each other:
feed the recombiner.
So little can upset a closed system.
Franka picks dashes,
scissors, and text that reads
cut
here like an old coupon.
Abrim asks for a mountain range.
Eesto, barbed wire.
Kam, bolts.
I choose the ocean
– origin story –
and foamy surf.
To crawl away from that is to live.
Britt Kaufmann
Britt Kaufmann was raised on Star Trek, A Wrinkle in
Time, and Asimov. Her website is brittkaufmann.com and
she always chooses @brittwriter for her social handles.
Art by Carol
Dickerson: https://www.caroldickerson.com/home.php