Tattoos

Each and every drop of ink
Embedded in my flesh
Earned with my blood
Is a reminder
To persevere
To keep on
Keeping on
Surviving
No matter what
Life swings at me
Pain
Sorrow
Grief
No matter how
Desperate I am
To die
To be at peace
To stop the noise
Inside my head
I persist
I paid for my life
With too much pain
To give in now
I think of the hot needles
And I walk on