Describing Tattoos to a Cop

After Ed Sanders We’d been squatting     near the worms in the White House lawn, protesting the Keystone Pipeline =$=$=$=$=$=$=>>; i could sense      the dear worms through    the grillwork fence, twists & coils   of flexi-script, remaking the soil    by resisting it    ... After the ride in the police van telling jokes, our ziplocked handcuffs pretty tight, when the presiding officer asked: —Do you have any tattoos? — Yes, officer, i have two. —What are they? — Well, i have a black heart on my inner thigh & an alchemical sign on my ankle. —Please spell that? — Alchemical. A-L-C-H-E-M-I-C-A-L. —What is that? — It’s basically a moon, a lily, a star & a flame. He started printing in the little square MOON, LILY, STAR Young white guy, seemed scared. One blurry tattoo on his inner wrist    ...     i should have asked about his, but couldn’t cross that chasm.     Outside,   Ash Wednesday in our nation’s capital.     Dead grass, spring trees about to burst, two officers beside the newish van. Inside, alchemical notes for the next time —