My Fictional Tattoo – Maybe Not-So-Much

Written down here, gentle reader
It seems too good to be true
But there’s a girl in Kansas City
With my favourite tattoo
Oh why would I lie to you?

This was in another century
Somewhere near the summer’s end
The fahrenheit was frightening
I was awake the whole weekend
Invited to a barbecue
I found refuge in the kitchen
Discussing post-war US literature
With a girl whose upper arm read “fiction”
Like it might have been typewritten

I asked her its significance
She said she sometimes took reminding
What she wanted to be doing
Whether reading it or writing
I admitted admiration
For both typeface and intent
And said more softly — sotto voce —
I knew too well what she meant
She just smiled
And in a while she went

For a time I forgot this ever took place
She left her bottle on the bookcase

So though I leave you little option
But to take me at my word
I assure you, dearest listener
That it happened as you’ve heard
A beer left on a bookshelf
At a bygone barbecue
By a girl from Kansas City
With my favourite tattoo
Oh why would I lie to you?
Oh why would I lie to you?
Oh why would I lie?

- “Fiction” by The Lucksmiths

I came across this. It spoke to me immediately. Happened serendipitously (you know I love that when it happens) while looking at ideas for a tattoo I want to get…

Photo: From the film El Laberinto Del Fauno/Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), Guillermo del Toro

About the Author: nicóle

Spellbound by a love of words and writing this mother of two boys who loves vintage, tech gadgets, prim things and her books, blogs about wonderment, inspiration, whimsy, and other of the many facets of life that have a tendency to cast a spell on her heart.

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