The Tattooed Poets Project: Gina Myers

Today's poet is no stranger to us here at The Tattooed Poets Project. Gina Myers appeared last year here on BillyBlog, one of three poets from our inaugural year to return with more work in 2010.

This year, she offers the following poem:

3.19.10

I just tried to save a man
who didn't need saving
which sounds like a great line
for a poem, but it's a line
from my life / I apologized
to the 911 operator as I watched
the man, who seconds ago was lying
in the street & crying out in pain,
stand up & walk away / Now,
a little shaken, I'm locked in
my apartment / It's just past
midnight, a new day / I try to recall
all the pills I have taken
in the past 24 hours to determine
if I can take one more or crack
this beer, something to calm
my nerves / I explained to the operator,
I'm a woman, I am alone /
The darkness surrounds / There was no one
else on the street & for some reason
I was scared but I couldn't not
do something / The sickness I have
will not go away / Because sometimes
this is how poems happen: months
& months of not writing followed
by a brief moment, a second needed
to share this moment with someone,
my imaginary reader, so I can pretend
I am not alone.

Please head on over to Tatoosday here and check out one of Gina's tattoos.


Gina Myers lives in Saginaw, MI, where she works as the Associate Editor of 360 Main Street, the Book Review Editor of NewPages, and the Reviews Editor of H_NGM_N. Her first full-length collection of poetry, A Model Year, was published by Coconut Books in 2009.