Black and grey ink-wash tattoo of a large flower on a stem, birds and ink splashes across the forearm.

Ink flower and birds across two forearms

Botanical · Forearm · Black and grey · Photo

Two forearms show black and grey tattoos of a large open flower on a long stem, with a few birds in flight and loose ink splatters. The linework is soft and feathered, with washes of grey shading the petals and leaves. The tattoos are arranged so the flower runs down the right forearm while the birds and splashes continue onto the left.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Mum, the blackbird didn't come back this morning, so I've taken to counting the swifts instead. Eleven over the car park by eight o'clock, which Mrs Okafor on the fourth floor says is a record, though she says a lot of things now the lift has been out since Easter.

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The ink went everywhere on Thursday. Dad's old pot of sumi slid off the windowsill when the wind caught the net curtain, and it bloomed across the lino in a black star. I left it for two days because it looked like something I'd meant to do. Then I took a dry brush to the splash by the skirting board and found I could lift it into grey, soft as breath on glass, so I kept going until the kitchen had a little weather in it.

The lily on the balcony has finally opened. It's taller than the rail now, and Ray from flat 41 says the stem is leaning towards the lift shaft, which is the only direction anything grows round here. The petals are the grey of wet slate where the light hits them and nearly black underneath, and two of the swifts have started landing on the top of the pot as if they've paid rent.

I've decided the flower is for you, so come Sunday before the wind strips the petals off the rail. Bring your good brushes and the tin of paper you never use. We'll sit on the step and draw whatever is still flying past.

Love, Jo

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