Black ink compass rose inside a layered mandala design on the upper back, with dotted rings and arrow points.

Compass rose mandala on upper back

Geometric · Back · Black and grey · Photo

A black ink compass rose sits at the centre of a layered mandala design, with an eight-point star and arrow tips extending left, right, up and down. The linework is bold and even, with solid black fills in the outer petals and small dot detail in the inner ring. The tattoo is photographed straight on against warm skin, with a few loose strands of hair crossing the design.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Mara, the chart you sent is still pinned above my bench, and I have stopped pretending the coastline is not wrong. Your rose sits in the wrong corner of the paper. North is supposed to face the harbour wall, not the gull on the cracked sill, and I have checked the brass needle three times this week. It holds steady. It is only the world that has shifted under us.

Keep reading

The Harrow Quay men say the old surveyor, Pendry, drew the compass rose so the points lined up with the lamp at Skerrow Head. I thought it was a sailor's fancy until I climbed the tower on Tuesday and found the lens cover had been turned a quarter round. Someone had been at the brass in the night, and the dots on the inner ring were scratched fresh, one for every bearing we have ever lost. There were eleven of them, and I counted them twice before the wind took my hat.

Bring the rule and the good ink when you come on the Thursday boat. I will hold the lamp steady while you measure, and we will see which way the arrows actually point when the light is off. If the star still settles north, we will know we are the ones who moved.

Yours across the water, Juniper

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