Black and grey fine serif lettering reading tempus neminem manet across the upper back near the shoulder blade, with a hand resting on the shoulder.

Latin lettering across upper back

Lettering · Back · Black and grey · Photo

A black and white photograph of a person's upper back, seen from behind, with a hand resting on the shoulder. A single line of small black serif lettering reads tempus neminem manet, with a full stop at the end, sitting horizontally across the upper back near the shoulder blade. The soft greyscale lighting and plain grey background keep the focus on the text and the skin.

Lettering Back Latin phrase Text Quote Serif lettering

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Tom, the harbour clock at Porthellis has stopped again, its hands jammed at twenty to four, and Mr Aske down by the fish market swears it was the gulls. I have told him it was the damp. Either way, the ferry still goes at six, and the purser has promised to hold the cabin if you are in the square by then, not on the quay with your bag and your opinions.

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Mother asked me to tell you the lamp in the front window is still lit. She says it is for the boats, but I think it is for you, and I have stopped arguing. Father's pocket watch is on the mantel where he left it, and I wind it each Sunday so it does not forget how to run.

Here is the thing I meant to say before you left. Father used to carve the same Latin above the bench in the net loft, the words his schoolmaster beat into him, and when I asked what they meant he said time waits for nobody, so you had better keep up. I laughed. I did not know then it was a warning and not a proverb.

Come home, or at least come to the square at six. The boat does not wait, and it seems neither does anyone else. Your sister, Ruth.