Ink on Skin

There are certain words that refuse to leave us.

Sometimes they’re spoken by someone we love. Sometimes they’re found in the margin of a book. Sometimes they arrive quietly in the middle of an ordinary afternoon and settle somewhere deep enough that we find ourselves returning to them years later.

I have always believed poetry isn’t meant to stay trapped on a page.

A poem begins there, but it finishes somewhere else—inside the person reading it. The right words become part of the way we move through the world. They become reminders on difficult mornings, quiet companions on long flights, small anchors during seasons when everything else feels uncertain.

Perhaps that’s why so many of us underline favorite lines in books. Write them in notebooks. Tape them to mirrors. Save them in our phones. We aren’t collecting words.

We’re collecting versions of ourselves.

The words that stay with us often become a kind of inner voice. Not loud enough to drown out fear, but steady enough to remind us who we are beneath it. A sentence that whispers, keep going. A reminder that says, you are enough. A promise to yourself to stay wild, even when the world asks you to become smaller.

Those are the kinds of words I’ve always wanted to write.

Not because they’re perfect.

Because I hope they might arrive at the exact moment someone needs them.

When the opportunity came to collaborate with Inked by Dani, I found myself thinking about that idea. What happens when poetry leaves the page entirely? What happens when a line you’ve carried in your heart becomes something you can carry with you?

That’s how the Atticus x Inked by Dani: Inner Voice collection came to life.

Together, we created a series of hand-drawn temporary tattoos inspired by some of the words and ideas that have become part of this little community we’ve built together. I am enough. Made of magic. Stay wild. Small reminders. Gentle nudges. Tiny pieces of language transformed into wearable art.

I love that they’re temporary.

There is something beautifully human about that.

A poem doesn’t need to last forever to change you. Neither does a conversation, a season, or a person. Sometimes the things that stay with us the longest are the ones that were only meant to be with us for a little while.

The tattoos feel the same way.

You wear them for a few days, maybe a couple of weeks. They fade naturally, just as one season gives way to another. But perhaps, by the time they’re gone, the words have found a more permanent place.

Not on your skin.

Inside you.

That’s also what I admire about Dani and her team. Every design begins as a hand-drawn sketch. Every tattoo is made to celebrate self-expression without permanence—to give people permission to experiment, to play, to tell little pieces of their story in a way that feels personal. It reminded me that art doesn’t always have to hang on a wall or sit inside a book. Sometimes it simply accompanies us through our everyday lives.

Maybe that’s what all meaningful art is trying to do.

To quietly walk beside us.

If you’ve ever read one of my poems and thought, I needed that today, this collaboration was made for you. It’s for the dreamers, the healers, the ones becoming. It’s for anyone who has ever needed a small reminder that they already carry what they’re searching for.

Because sometimes all it takes is a few words.

And sometimes those words deserve to come with you.

A little something to write

If you could carry one sentence with you for the next year, what would it be?

Not the sentence you think sounds the wisest.

The one you think you’d need the most.

Write it down. Keep it somewhere you’ll find it again.

You never know when your future self might need to read it.

A gift for Skinny Dipping in December readers

As we get closer to the release of Skinny Dipping in December, I wanted to share a small piece of this collaboration with those of you joining me on the journey.

When you pre-order Skinny Dipping in December, you’ll receive the limited-edition Atticus x Inked by Dani Inner Voice temporary tattoo collection as a free gift. Simply reserve your copy from your favorite bookseller, submit your receipt, and we’ll send the tattoo pack your way.

*Please note, tattoo packs and copies of Skinny Dipping in December will ship separately.

It’s my way of saying thank you for being part of this little world we’ve built together.

A few words to carry with you while you wait for the book to arrive.

With love from the shadows,

xx Atticus