Tattoos and Scarification

about a guy i met

Do you have any tattoos?

The dark haired man asks from across the desk

 

It was past midnight, late for an interview

But I needed the money, and apparently

This man was desperate to hire me

 So I drove here once the plane took off

Headed for England

 

It was a warehouse office

A massive fenced in building

And a lot filled with airport equipment

 

He was smoking a cigarette when I pulled up

And didn’t say anything to me as I bailed off the still rolling tug

He just stared at my unwashed uniform shirt

Draped over an offensive black tee shirt

 

I hated the uniform

Made me look like a janitor

So I substituted with my own clothes

The company wasn’t going to fire me

I was the only one who could

Operate the heavy machinery

And I was good at it too

Even hung over

 

But this wasn’t for ramp work

It was a security gig

Report writing

And wandering an empty building

 

So we sat at the desk

And he asked if I had any tattoos

 

I told the guy yes

And he asked if he could see them

I told the guy no

That it was a biohazard

 

A free job

Done at a kitchen table

The gun was legit but the artist

Well he wasn’t

 

Any way we,

My roommate, paid with

Something other than money

And got us the tattoos

 

So the guy, Mr. C,

Says he’s not surprised

Then he asks for my birthday

 

I tell him and

He writes on this scrap of paper

For a long moment

Then says he wants to hire me

 

Says he believes in numerology

And that my numbers

Are a good sign for him

 

Then he asks what I know about scarification

And I told him I don’t know anything about that

 

He starts talking about how

He knew this guy

That drew on himself with razors

Went in at just the right depth

So they were permanent

But didn’t knick any veins or arteries

 

I explained

That I drew

Just not with razors

 

So he hired me

But told me that I had

To wear the right uniform

If I was going to stay

 

Later on

He saw my drawings

And told me he had to have a copy

Of all of them

Said I had been drawing

His dreams

 

Then I had to move on

Because things were weird all over

12-21-2012

0131

Reviews

[Mockingbird]

for a person in the position of wanting a job he really reveals a alot of himself. this mr.c. must have been an interesting man enough to want to work for. but i could see how he could be impressed by your drawings. and i guess you drew the line when he said your drawings were pictures of his dreams. a lot going on. such an interesting narrative poem.

[Ruth]

Oh, I like the surrealness to this...
Yes, loved it! :)

[That_Girl]

How odd... I love the way you told it. This was quite humerous, to me at least... I'm sure it was freaky as hell for you. lol

[K.C. Zbryk]

It was strange for me, but at that time in my life it was running par. it is funny though. Thank you for reading!

[Frieda P]

I don't how much of this is fact or fiction, but really interesting read. People are strange, that's for sure, some more so than other's...

[K.C. Zbryk]

It's all fact, and thank you for reading. The world is full of strange people. Funny thing is the strange ones can be nicer than the normal ones... sometimes.

[Frieda P]

hahah define normal!

[K.C. Zbryk]

normal is all a perspective. I'm so far from it i couldnt describe it, but i've heard that webster's a smart guy.

[Frieda P]

normal is a setting on the dishwasher, other than that I'm totally lost ;-)

[.]

Wow! That must've been quite an experience. I didn't think such people exist. He seems straight out of a book. I think some people just want to be a part of us even if we don't want them to. They just want to hijack something precious that belongs to us--in this case he wanted a copy of all your drawings. He's somewhat like Sri Sri. But this man is obviously not a cult leader. Yet, I'm sure he would be one if he could be one.

[K.C. Zbryk]

He was one of the strangest people i have ever worked for, by far. these people do exist you just have to find the right circles to meet them. How i keep finding these circles i dont know but Mr. C was always full of some strange stories. I think he was as fascinated by me as i was by him. We were both odd, and had strange theories so it made sense for us to chat occassionally. He did want the origional copies of my drawings but i gave him some photo copies instead. He said they were missing some of the origional life. He may have been cult leader potential but he never tried to change my views on anything. He just seemed overly curious. I was painfully honest with him...

[.]

Have you ever given photocopies of your drawings to anyone other than him?

[K.C. Zbryk]

I used to sell them in high school, or just give away the origionals when i was finished. It made sense to give them to someone who liked them, i just drew to distract myself. Kind of like my writing now. I was rarely possessive of my artwork.

[.]

Selling or giving away originals is different. In this specific context, you mentioned that he wanted originals but you gave him photocopies. Is that correct?

[K.C. Zbryk]

Ahh yes. the drawing was for someone else specifically. It had a purpose before it was finished, and he was not the purpose. And i have given photo copies to others, specifically if they had another intended recipient. So technically i had given the drawing away before he even saw it, pre mortem in a sense.

[.]

Oh! Was this about one specific drawing and not many drawings?

[K.C. Zbryk]

One specifically. after he had seen that one he wanted to see more. But this was really bout one specific drawing. I had ventured into psychadelic drawings that wove physical features of the building i was in with natural scenery and patterns. I showed him that when it was almost finished and he wanted to see others.

[.]

Ah! There's a lot of mind-play going on here. I didn't get this sense from the poem. I think both of you have cult-leader potential. Seriously. Not kidding. It seems like there were two people who were interacting with each other and both were trying to alter the other's belief system albeit in an ultra subtle way.

[K.C. Zbryk]

Mind play is a wonderful way to describe our interaction. I really have no desire to be a cult leader but this reminds me of L. Ron Hubbard. he's the guy behind scientology. He was an author first but made the statement that being an author didnt pay enough. So he was trying to convince others to create a religion based off their stories... We were trying to alter each other, but isnt this what happens when new people meet? One influences the other, wether intentional or not.

[.]

Thank you. The term mind-play was inspired by this conversation. I don't think I have ever used it before.

I think the reason why you're not a cult leader and many with cult leader potential are not cult leaders is because of the absence of the desire to be a cult leader--not even to make more money.

When new people meet, it's possible that they influence each other. But it's also possible that they don't. It's also possible that they don't try to influence consciously. I'm not sure if all human beings are trying to influence others subconsciously because I do know of some who simply express themselves without any conscious or subconscious effort to influence anyone. Many times the effect of that expression is clearly incidental. But I'll still think about this some more and return to this thread when I have a clearer picture.