My Dragon

Here is "My Dragon" which is a Tattoo and a Story at the same time. During the time, many years ago, this was written and "done" I belonged to an on-line Tattoo group and wrote the following with them in mind.
From beginning to end it took five hours and the first and for sure the last time I ever "sit" that long again.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...e/520hours.jpg

As I sit here in front of my computer, ensconced in my private little jungle realm that I have created for myself, my feathered Family perched on my shoulders and my collection of Gargoyle statuary leering down at me,
Glaring ... questioning.

I am struck with the reality of what has transpired the nights before.
The almost surreal events that move me to bare myself to you.
I thought of you, all of you, as I sat and endured and gloried.

It was close ...
very close.

I could feel that ever so small thin shimmer of air being moved as it hovered there, gently caressing the fine hairs on my skin that had escaped the Razor as it made its way down my body slashing and obliterating everything uneven in its wake.

That ... oh so slight vibration that titillates you with visions of things yet to come.

I shiver ... and hope no one noticed.

It was close ...
very close.

That reaper of my flesh, the liberator of my pain, the measuring cup of my character.
That vessel that elevates me to heights never before dreamed of, and brings me crashing down in the blink of an eye.

The feather, that meanders its lazy way along the contours of my body as it lovingly strokes one area and then another. Always leaving me in a state of apprehension and anticipation.

Fearing and lusting at the same time.

It was close ...

That one fraction of a second before it all begins ...

That peel of thunder in your head as you wait with bated breath for the strike of lightning that will sear your flesh for all eternity.
That instrument that will indelibly mark you as one who has faced the inner Dragon and allows the world to see you victorious.

It was close ...

The soother of my soul, my Savior and my Executioner.
My Pleasure and my Pain.
It lingers ... savoring the moment. It floats on ethereal wings biding its time. Allowing the visions in my mind to expand. Preparing me for that which will forever change the "Who" and "Whatâ?� I am.

Then ... as I think that I can take no more.

The first kiss.
Penetration.
The visions in my mind explode in a crescendo of color and sound as the Needle and I meld into one single being. Indistinguishable from one another.

A unity.
Metamorphosis.
Birth and Death.

As the steel and skin embrace each other, I die a thousand deaths only to emerge stronger. I LIVE! I THRIVE! I am "One" with all there is.
There is a certain Madness inherent in all this.
But this too is a part of who and what I am.

Argue for your limitations and surely enough they are yours.
That "line" of endurance one sets for oneself is quickly reached, begging to be prolonged and dreading every second that extends beyond your threshold.

I have nothing to prove to anyone.
I have a need.
A need to test my mettle.
To see if I am who I have always thought I was or if I have it in me to become more.

I have seen past the Horizon and was blinded, only to find that I am now able to "see" with clarity of vision that goes beyond the mere expansion and dilation of my pupils.
As I sit here reflecting on past "pleasures" I look at the map that is my body.

I see slopes and valleys that are barren.
I see crags and crevices that are unadorned.
I am not complete.
The road ahead is long that I travel. But travel it I will.