Black tribal dragon tattoo with wing-like scrollwork across a man's upper back, running down the spine, seen from behind.

Tribal dragon back tattoo

Back · Black and grey · Photo

A man is photographed from behind with his arms held out to the sides. A large black tribal design covers his upper back and shoulders, with a winged, dragon-like figure whose tail runs down the centre of his spine. The bold solid black linework and scrollwork stand out against his skin, with a plain room and ceiling behind him.

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A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Ines, the kiln on Halden Ridge cracked again last night, so the glass for the cupola is late, and Mother Odile has taken to pacing the gallery with the ledger under her arm. You asked whether the dragon hung above the east dock is really a dragon or just a bad bit of drafting. It is a dragon. I climbed the gantry this morning to look at it properly, and I can tell you the wings are made of tallies.

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Tomas the sealer cut every black curl by hand from scorched foil, the year the first shuttle went out past the ring. Each scroll marks a departure and each little bowl beside it marks a return. The long tail that runs down the spine is the cable the lantern hangs from, so when the wind swings it, the whole creature seems to flex. Odile says the pattern was sketched on the back of a wage slip, which is why the lower wing looks rushed.

The odd thing is the gap near the left shoulder, a single curl left open with nothing inside it. Tomas never filled it. When I asked him why, he said a line only counts once someone comes back to close it, and that was the one nobody had come back for yet.

I have been carrying a stylus in my coat for a week, and I think tomorrow I will fill that curl myself, in the same black as the rest, with a bowl for you and a bowl for me. Come home before the glass is finished, and bring the good ink.

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