Tattoo Talk with the Acupuncturist

By Neil Surkan

I had my first covered up
years back, she says, flicking two needles

through the saddle of my wrist (whoosh
go the nerves’ eager faucets), the ankh:

Egyptian symbol for life.
I chuckle. My first was a labyrinth.

Needles down my shin, needle
under ankle ball. So what

did you cover it with?
Needles in my toes’ webbed skin. Body,

grid of rivulets,
shimmering in light

of its death. She cuts
the halogens.

Another ankh.
Silence.

neil surkan

Neil Surkan’s most recent book is Unbecoming (McGill-Queen’s, 2021). He lives and teaches in Nanaimo, B.C., on the traditional and unceded territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation. neilsurkan.com