Tattoosday Walks Into a Bar: Flowers in Phoenix

On a recent trip to Southern California, my connecting flight in Arizona had mechanical difficulties and I got bumped to another plane, two hours later.

As luck would have it, there is a fabulous bar in the Phoenix Sky Harbor airport – Four Peaks Brewing Company. 

So while I whiled away my time, chatting with the bartender and other patrons, I caught up on email, gobbled up some delicious quesadillas and enjoyed Four Peaks’ Oatmeal Stout and their ¡Odelay!

Mexican Chocolate Ale.

The Stout was cold, dark and delicious, and the Odelay was one of the best beers I’ve had. It had the full body of a dark beer, with the delicious chocolaty taste, punctuated with a kick of spiciness. I knew it was what I’d be ordering when I stopped back on my return.

I also chatted with one of the servers, named Katie, who was kind enough to share this floral half-sleeve:

The arrangement includes orchids, lilies, cherry blossoms and daisies. “I love orchids and lilies,” she told me, adding “I have a fresh orchid in my apartment at all times.”

When I spotted the text on her inner arm, she allowed me take a photo of that, as well:

It reads “We accept the love we think we deserve,” which is a quote from  Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower one of Katie’s favorite books.

She credited her work to Miguel at Body Canvas Tattoo in Phoenix.

I enjoyed my brief respite at Four Peaks and looked forward to stopping back in on my way back to New York. Alas, my return brought me in at the height of the lunch hour. The place was mobbed and I only had a brief layover.

Thanks to Katie and the staff at Four Peaks Brewing Company! Katie, for sharing her awesome tattoos, and Four Peaks, for making a delay in my travels significantly more delicious!

This entry is ©2015 Tattoosday.

If you are seeing this on another website other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.

The Tattooed Poets Project: Doc Suds

Our next tattooed poet is Doc Suds, who sent us this collage of his tattoo:

Doc explains:

"In 2013 I had this tattoo done by Vincent Vasconez at Tattoo & Co. in Miami. [Vasconez now works out of Kreepy Tiki Tattoos in Ft. Lauderdale.] It is a realistic interpretation of a hop cone dressed in 19th Century attire a la Sierra Nevada's Hoptimum logo.

For me, beer is one of the more interesting goods of our time. Its history (IPA's extreme hop presence is the result of the beer needing to survive long 19th century boat journeys from England to India), science (it's fermentation process relies on active yeast, or in other worlds tiny live microorganisms), originality (in a time when chain stores have resulted in a nation of identical highway exits, craft breweries are thriving thanks to independent owners, local support and creative experimentation) and art (talk to a brewmaster for more than ten minutes and you'll encounter the same passion and complexity that accompanies painters, sculptors and singers discussing their craft) all fascinate me, and involve the larger subjects I like to explore in my life and poetry. Vincent's interpretation of the image really helped it come alive, and the addition of his signature 'Wynwood' watercolor boarder helps connect it to place and time."

Doc sent us this poem, which was originally published in Chicago Quarterly Review:

Back Then

It is going very badly.
A cargo of teak, opium, ivory and influenza.

The captain scrapes barnacles off the helm
while the crew tries to sober-up

on seawater and fish scales. Refusing to improve
upon the banter of wind and wave, the sailors fantasize

about jellyfish on toast and turtle-shell cigars.
A time of roving stars and shifting horizons,

Cannibals and kraken.
A time when you can return to port and claim

whales so big you ran aground on one,
lost a cabin boy down its blowhole,

no one knowing enough to question you.
Back when sailors wear gold earrings so

their corpses can afford a proper burial.
And the frigate birds swoop down

with eyes for plunder.

~ ~ ~

Doc Suds is a Wisconsin native currently residing in North Miami, Fl. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Atlanta Review, Madison Review, Manhattan Review, New Delta Review, Gargoyle, Paper Darts, Silk Road Review and elsewhere. Encounter him more here: @docsuds  and docsuds.wordpress.com.

Thanks to Doc for sharing his tattoo and poem with us here on the Tattooed Poets Project!

This entry is ©2014 Tattoosday. The poem and tattoo are reprinted with the poet's permission.

If you are reading this on another web site other than Tattoosday, without attribution, please note that it has been copied without the author's permission and is in violation of copyright laws. Please feel free to visit http://tattoosday.blogspot.com and read our original content. Please let me know if you saw this elsewhere so I contact the webmaster of the offending site and advise them of this violation in their Terms of Use Agreement.