The Tattooed Poets Project: Tessara Dudley

Our next tattooed poet is Tessara Dudley. She sent us these photos:

Tessara tell us:

"I got 'Radical Self Begins With Radical Self-Love' after my partner got it, and I wanted the reminder on my skin as well. Under that is the anti-possession symbol from Supernatural, which my partner and I got together because we're both fans of the show. 

On my forearm is 'The Struggle Continues', and a Black power fist, which I got as a very visible badge of my politics, and as a reminder to myself that there's still so much work to do in the world, not just on racial justice, but on LGBTQ+ equity, disability justice, socioeconomic stratification, and more."

Tessara credited her work to "the talented Levi Greenacres at Skeleton Key Tattoo in Portland, OR."

She also sent us this poem:

Blood Lines

213 years back I can trace my mother

not so far my father

NorthSouthCarolina

Georgia

Maryland

the horror of plantation space

laid over mass graves unacknowledged

to obscure atrocities

but I see in 600/400 vision

haunted by subjugation

slaughter

when I hear spirituals

I shiver

knowing that my ancestors sang these words from

bodies too tightly bound for anything but voice

to escape                     craved-for impossibility

but to remain               vindictive probability

I cry for

bodies holding together through too much want

the water taste of porridge

gagging on the ashes in their mouths

my ancestors turned from fires

of their own kindlingflesh

pointed north in whispers of freedomfutures

dreaming days of light and joy

I come

from survivors

pulling back on the reins of storychants

and shouting

no

I am here and

I shall not be moved and

we shall overcome and

we are family

my family is struggle made flesh

where ancestors inhabit our bodies and share space

with our souls

whispering

do not forget

I labour to remember what I never knew

Herculean task made possible by bloodsong

the past informs my path to moonsteps

and the future is everyday written on my bones

~ ~ ~

A writer, educator, and activist living in Portland, OR, Tessara Dudley writes poetry and personal essay from the intersection of working class Black queer disabled life, and hopes her art will help to build a better world. She can be found at http://tessaradudley.com and the small press she founded is at http://mourningglorypub.com.

Thanks to Tessara for her contribution to the Tattooed Poets Project on Tattoosday!

This entry is ©2015 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoos are reprinted with the poet's permission.

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