"Tattoo" by Ted Kooser
On the surface, this poem describes a elderly man with a tattoo looking at tools at a yard sale. However, there is more to the story. Kooser uses language that is simple and clear, but also elegant, to describe the man. The reader first sees the old man with a tattoo that has faded into a bruise. The poem reveals a glimmer of his past life. It is obvious that he was once a very tough man. So tough, in fact, that his tattoo depicts "a dripping dagger held in the fist of a shuddering heart." The intensity of this image, along with the personification of vanity punching him in the spot of his tattoo, suggests that he may possibly regret the selfishness of his younger ways. But he also misses it. He wears a "tight black shirt/rolled up" because of his yearning for the return of his youth. The last image of the poem is of the man's heart. It has "gone soft and blue with stories." The poet cleverly brings together the imagery of the man's old and weak heart and his faded tattoo. It tells that what was once strong and vibrant turns feeble and forlorn.
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