Literary Tattoos

As of late on both the Web and amongst people I know, I've noticed the growing popularity of literary tattoos.  Of my friends, I've noticed that a lot of these tattoos are appearing on people studying English or similar fields of study, although occasionally one peaks out of the grain that is some random science major or what have you. On Tumblr, there's even a whole blog dedicated to these tattoos (http://tattoolit.com/ in case you wanted to check it out. I follow it!).  I myself am even guilty of having a literary tattoo. Above is the typewriter on my ribcage (If you can't tell from these last two posts and the many to come, I have a bit of a typewriter obsession). Underneath it is a line from Ted Kooser's, "Tattoo." That line along with the rest of the poem hit a personal place in my heart when I first read it and the feeling has stayed with me since.

So what is it about these book quotes, images and whatnot that many of us find inspiring enough to permanently etch into our skin? I have to admit that I personally find it beautiful that these tattoos are appearing everywhere. Don't you get it? This means people are reading! It's a wonderful thing to realize your generation is actually appreciating writing and incorporating it into a daily part of their lives. Every time somebody asks me about my tattoo, I'm happy to explain the quote (Well, most of the time. Sometimes I'm tired and don't want to explain it and have to resist telling them to fuck off). I hope that maybe they'll consider looking up the poem later, which will lead them to reading more and more poems as they aimlessly wander the Internet.

I guess I wonder what people's thoughts are on this new tattoo trend and what some of the favorites they've seen are. Here are some that I enjoyed: