Tattoos

Once exclusively for sailors,
Often after lots to drink,
Nowadays it seems that everyone
Is branded with some ink.

On an ankle or a shoulder,
Peeking out from neck or chest,
There are symbols, words or pictures,
Anything you can request.

I’ve seen butterflies and rainbows,
Angel wings on someone’s back;
And, quite often, patterns near the waist,
Above the rear-end crack.

Sometimes decorations cover
Every inch of someone’s arm.
Though to me, it looks grotesque,
I’m sure to others, it must charm.

When those sailors had exclusive
Claim to most of the tattoos,
Other people shied away and thought
They had too much to lose.

Yet today, tattoos are common.
Young and old give them a whirl;
But the only ones I never see
Are “Mom” and pin-up girl!