i grabbed my copy of the whalefall book - and just for fun thought id post this!!! it’s just one scene describing josh brolin’s character’s (mitt gardiner) tattoos! obviously not all of them are in the pics above but regardless it’s cool!!
In case this is easier to read ——
Dad's flushing corrosive saltwater from under a hose sleeve. He squats in the driveway. His torn jeans hang low, revealing not only his underwear but the purple scar where, thirty years younger, he'd been stabbed by a sailboat cleat. His shirt's off, art on exhibit. The curled shark on his chest flashing its teeth at a tattoo of a swallow— the traditional symbol of five thousand miles sailed. Covering his whole back, a lofty, four-mast sailing ship slashed by a ten-inch keloid scar.
Captain's wheel on his shoulder. Arms sleeved with a nautical star, a hula girl, a lighthouse, a homeward cruiser emblazoned with his wife's name: ZARA. Right foot, a rooster; left foot, a pig: an old seaman's superstition to ward off drowning.
HOLD FAST: a pennant between his shoulders, a sailor's plea that their rigging grip stayed true. OUR FATHER WHO ART IN NATURE on his stomach: a quote from Cannery Row, some kind of middle finger to organized religion.
Dad sweats ink.
