Backpiece
I'm with a woman; quite petite, but with beautiful definition
and a dark brown bob of thick, chestnut hair.
I can only see her from the back, unbuttoning her shirt
and letting it fall to the floor, to show me her back.
Her skin is pale and smooth. She isn't wearing a bra.
I realize that she has disrobed to show me her tattoo.
The tattoo is like a fine picture frame. Pitch black linework;
partly Celtic, partly black ivy like vines.
It is exquisite work, and I move closer to get a better look.
The tattoo frames her back perfectly; black on white.
I look closer at the linework and realize that it's moving.
Sometimes the ink fades from one spot into another,
sometimes it's as though animated atop her skin.
I ask her who did the work, but she doesn't answer me.
I ask her if I can touch it, and she nods slowly.
(but doesn't speak throughout the dream)
I reach out my hand and touch her back.
It's warm, and the ink in her skin snakes towards my fingers.
I trace the lines on her back, watching them move.