Ariana Crisafulli

Hence the Feather

I have a hideous tattoo on my left calf. It’s too big, too solidly monochrome, and it’s starting to fade. It’s supposed to be a feather, but sometimes people mistake it for a leaf. And, nine years after it was stenciled into me forever, you can hardly read the words underneath it; lyrics from a song called Feather, by Nujabes. “Hence the feather,” I always tell people when I explain.