What's the difference between Self harm scars and a tattoo?

According to Dictionary.com a tattoo is a “the act or practice of marking the skin with indelible patterns,”

According to Dictionary.com self-harm is “the practice of cutting or otherwise wounding oneself”

You get a tattoo in a shop where The cold air reeks of rubbing alcohol. You describe your past, your future, your desires and wishes to the artist

You engrave yourself with the name of the mother who gave you the gift of life

You engrave the rhythm strip of her final heartbeats onto your wrist

These Self Harm Scars come during a time of vulnerability where you’re bleeding your desires and wishes, the screams of a past time

When you dig that blade into your skin, you’re bleeding the cries that you can’t let out

Bleeding the fire that burns within

The blood that is redder that's a who*e’s red lipstick seeping through your skin piping hot from the steam you could never blow off

Feeling the bumps left by the scars from each incision made by you, each one a reminder of your weakness.

The thing is

These scars are my tattoos