Poems and Thoughts    by Frank Maurer

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My Pictish Beast Tattoo. Among other peoples, I am a Pict-- The tattooed or painted ones of Scotland. I first saw the petroglyph, 'Craw Sten' of Rhynie Several decades ago atop its hill-- Angled salmon above and Pictish Beast beneath, On a standing stone two meters high. I have utilized the image of this Beast As a logo on all my literature. Now, after 10 or more years of pondering, I am ready to endure a baptismal tattoo On my own left forearm. I shall be kilted, with a hippo tusk lying nearby, Accompanied by a bunched cluster of ancient mammoth hair. There shall be a Swiss cow bell, as part of my past. I shall add ancestral Erectus and Neanderthal stone tools, Formerly used to skin said mammoths. An attending Turk there, shall represent the Fertile Crescent; A South African shall represent our African human origins; And Drew, the artist, returned from 39 years abroad Will represent my own sojourn in Sweden. We shall be conversing in Swedish and Turkish and English. After one half hour, I shall be marked for the remainder of my life. Just as the new pope was recently inaugurated into the church, So shall I finally be enfolded into my Pictish fellowship. This poem shall be read before commencing with the marking (21 May 2025). Frank Maurer 10 May 2025 0135 Hours.