Black and grey realism tattoo on the forearm of a man with swept-back hair in a dark jacket, his hands gripping the lapels beneath a banner reading THE KING IS DEAD.

Black and grey portrait with banner on forearm

Realism · Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

A realistic black and grey portrait of a man with swept-back hair, shown from the chest up in a dark jacket. His hands grip the lapels below a banner with the words THE KING IS DEAD in block capitals. Soft shading and fine tonal gradations model the face and fabric, and the design wraps around the forearm.

Realism Forearm Portrait Man Hair Jacket Hand Banner Lettering Text

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

The wind off the Mersey has finally dropped, so I can write properly. They hung the banner over the gate of the Cold Hall this morning, the one stitched from old radio cloth, and the whole terrace came out to read it. Mr Penhaligon, who has painted signs since before the drowning, said the letters were too neat for a proclamation and too honest for a joke.

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The man in the picture is the one the Hall still calls the last king, though nobody has seen a crown since the tide took the Exchange. His coat is dark, his hair combed up like a wave that stopped mid-break, and his hands hold his lapels as if he means to step out of the frame. I asked the archivist why the banner binds him so tightly. She said the makers wanted him tied to the news, not to a throne.

Yesterday the ferry boys came back from the north shore with word that the signal towers had gone quiet. Some took it as the death the old songs had promised. Others took it as a chance to choose a new king, which is how this whole argument began in the first place.

I have pinned a copy of the picture above my bench. Each time I reach for a tool, his hands are still holding his coat shut, waiting to see who will be brave enough to lift the banner. Write back soon and tell me whether your gulls still sing at dusk. Yours, Ilse.