i was just reading an article in hypoallergenic titled in the prison of your skin by a writer who went into a prison in peru to photograph inmates tattoos. she asked a girl going to meet her inmate about her dolphin tattoo and got silence. she learned later that animal tattoos represent a criminal's alias. when the girl leaves the prison, the criminal's spirit animal walks.
i wonder what would have happened to my animal tattoo if i had one, after shedding endless layers, not that i'd have one on my feet, but my arm perhaps. i joked to cousin stacey that when a swatch of skin came off my foot maybe i'd make a toy lampshade. she said she'd have a nightmare. maybe i already said that. maybe i'll get a tat of mister when my skin is good again, and it will be protection from invaders. that's in the future and will likely remain there, as a possibility. a fetish to give my mind a sense of safe passage.