Stephanie Slate & M.G. Martin { Part 1 }

double dip recession

there is a shortage of skin
& i have taken my nakedness
to the tattoo employment agency

it costs no money to take off the hair
of my pubis & provides more work
for the agency

the agency appreciates ingenuity
& awards me their highest honor
it is called: untitled improvisation

i think of the time before hair
when i took you to the tree the naked
elders called: what planet is this

where we practiced the ninety nine
disciplines of nakedness & drew
tattoos of tree sap with tree sap
onto our skins

i think of when you said:
we aren’t falsely oblique in a real sense
we are really oblique in a false sense

i am volunteering to bear your mistakes
on my body i would do it for free
but i am a patriot during this recession

i accept the worth of skin but am shamed
that i can’t facsimile mine & distribute
this flesh in these times of infirmity

upon leaving i note:
the agency is open monday through friday
during normal business hours

—-

Stephanie Slate is a photographer living and working in Philadelphia PA. Her B.F.A in photography was received from Pratt Institute in 2008. Slate uses alternative processes such as Platinum/Palladium printing and also Wet Plate Collodion. Her work mainly consists of images that explore the delicate boundaries between the repulsive and beautiful, while her newer work focuses on the wonders of boredom.  {www.lynslatephotography.com}

M.G. Martin is the author of One For None (Ink) & the chapbook Fall Out Of Your Skin (Pangur Ban Party). His work has appeared in Word Riot, ZYZZYVA, Explosion Proof, PANK & >kill author, among others. A Pushcart Nominee, M.G. lives & writes in Brooklyn. Find him: here & here.

—-

Words with Pictures is a weekly two-part post that pairs photographers and writers. The first week, a writer is given a photograph to inspire the creation of a new piece of writing. The following week the photographer is given a piece of writing and responds with a new photographic piece. This series is curated by Conveyor Magazine Editor Dominica Paige.