Temporary Markings............ by me!

Temporary Markings

Rigid and smooth,
tiny cuts scratched at the epidermis
gnawing pinpricks kissed the flesh
in every groove, numbing nerves,
submersing red platelets;
Sex, drugs and death rule the needle
in that order; too far gone to stop just yet.
I am shallow. I remain empty.
In a momentary lapse of clarity
I find myself full of life and thumping blood
watching as he scarred his pain in black octopus ink
and in etching broad shadows across his canvas
needle punctures traced a carbon design
abstract pattern in the least
leaving dark blue-green markings
and trailing smooth maps
around the stitches and scars healed fine
bruisings and cigar burn marks from past
dares and stupid indiscretions
one of them, lingering; one of them, mine.
Flinching pain and tribal barbed wire tracings
accompanied the musical buzzing of
overhead fluorescent lights
and cast-off dismal fixings
while an ominous phrase and a number appeared,
in swollen, raised Olde English letters
bled an ornate branded name
and let down self defenses
inking a seal on his upper back; permanent mark
stark, revealing rude, harsh, and hot senses
like a random fuck in the dark.