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