Black and grey shaded wings and the Latin script Alis Volat Propriis tattooed across the upper back and nape, with stars and a sun motif below.

Wings and Latin script on upper back

Lettering · Back · Black and grey · Photo

A close photograph of a tattoo across the upper back and nape, showing two shaded black and grey wings spreading outwards from the shoulders. The Latin words Alis Volat Propriis are written in a flowing script between the wings, with small star outlines and a sun-like motif below. The printed text above the photo describes the tattoo, but the tattoo itself is rendered in black ink and grey shading with a soft, centred composition.

Lettering Back Neck Wing Script Latin text Star Sun

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Take it to an artist as a reference. A good artist will make it yours rather than copy someone else's tattoo.

A story inspired by this tattoo · fiction

Dear Ines, the guard at Kestrelhof has finally stopped asking me to open the tin. I think he has decided the tin is harmless, which is what I wanted him to think, so I am writing this on the back of his own customs form while he eats his sausage.

Keep reading

You will want to know about the glider. Papa's bicycle wheels are still in the shed at home, and the canvas Mama used for the tablecloths is stretched over the frame now, painted the blue of the old tram tickets. I have no idea how she got it over the wire. She did it on the Thursday when the searchlights swept the east bank and the dogs were asleep. I watched from the reeds with my hands in my coat, counting the seconds the way you taught me.

The stars were out that night, thick as spilt salt. She said they were the only maps nobody could confiscate. When she lifted above the reeds I could still read the lettering stitched under her collar: Alis volat propriis. The nuns used to chalk it above the classroom door, and I always thought it was a boast. That night it sounded more like a description.

They have told me she landed safely on the far side, in a field near Vellmark, and walked into the village with the sun coming up behind her. Nobody has seen the glider since. I suppose she folded it and carried it the rest of the way, which is precisely what I would expect of her.

Write soon. Tell Mama the canvas is not for tablecloths anymore.