Tattoo by Ted Kooser Essay Example

a period which suggests period between youth and age. After that description there are only commas for punctuation. The tattoo is discussed in the past tense 'What was once meant to be a statement' showing that this tattoo signified what the man was in his youth.

He compares who the man was in his youth to being 'as strong as a stallion, fast and ornery,' and then addresses how he is now; 'he is only another old man... his heart gone soft and blue with stories'. It is said that that tattoo is "now just a bruise... where vanity once punched him in the arm. " The words punched and bruise portrays that the tattoo was a stamp he deserved more than it was his choice. When the speaker mentions that the old man is 'soft and blue with stories' it connects to the tattoo because a tattoo is something permanent yet fades with age, such a stories.

Stories are a part of your youth that you remember, they will always be there and there is no getting rid of them, although they also fade in time. The speaker links strong adjectives when talking about his past, such as 'fast and ornery' or 'strong as a stallion. However, once talking about the present the old man is described as 'only another old man' and that 'his heart gone soft and blue with stories'. This underlines that there is nothing special that makes him stick out.

The fact that he walks through the tables his sleeves are rolled up, even though it was previously stated that it was a chilly morning asserts that it is the only thing that

shows who he once was. The old man is picking up broken tools which also connects with who he is; something once strong and helpful is now just old and not needed. In this poem, there are only several subtle patterns. In some cases some weak adjectives are linked with strong ones, like the connection of 'strong' and 'stallion' and also 'fast' and 'ornery'.

There are also some weak situations with rhyme, with the end of a verse finishing with 'statement' pulls together with 't-shirt' and also the end statement of 'ornery' fits with 'stories'. As for the end statements, they first one starts off with punctuation, and then for five lines there is none on the end, then a comma, and then three lines without any punctuation at the end, and the punctuation, none, punctuation for two lines. So as time goes on there are more pauses before starting a new line. This also relates to how strong and tough he was in the past but as time goes on he must take more pauses for he is tired and old.