It's under the skin
A frozen inky image
Personal and enduring
Wrought by needle and pain
It's a favorite motorcycle brand
Emblazoned for the world to see
A bar and shield
In orange and black
Maybe it's a unit insignia
Born of sweat blood and brotherhood
Worn with pride
Long after the uniform is gone
Or a lost loved one
Now etched in the skin
Almost as deep as your memory
Wearing the love and grief on your sleeve
A mark of achievement
Showing rite of passage
An event to be marked for all to see
Sometimes just showing the courage
Of the getting of the mark
A philosophy and way of life
Brought to reality
In living breathing color
Eastern characters
Whose meaning is sometimes cryptic
Even to those who wear them
Symbols of power and piousness
Of happiness and sadness
Things loved and hated
Never something that isn't felt in some extreme
The ink lives
And tells the story
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