WATERMARK

a poet’s notebook

Established 02004

August 8, 2026

Caturday | Cousin Sue & Little Bibs

A digital collage on a teal background. Along the top, a string of pennant flags features vintage illustrations of cats in various poses — kittens with bows, a cat in a hat, a regal white cat wearing a crown — hung with clothespins beneath three black labels reading MEOW MEOW MEOW. A small dark heart hangs at center beneath the bunting, framed by delicate scrollwork. Below, three photographs arranged in a row show a woman's hands and forearm cradling a small black-and-white kitten, who sprawls contentedly across her arm in each image, utterly at ease. A pink pillow is visible in the background. Between the photos, a label reads LIFE IS GOOD. Paw prints are scattered across the background. In the lower right corner, in script: Cousin Sue & little Dibs. — **Cousin Sue & Little Bibs**. Digital collage by sb 02011; credits at flickr.

I took these photos of my cousin Sue Pinkerton and her little cat Bibs, probably in 02011. This tiny cat was adorable, and would not let me near her. She was Sue’s, and only Sue’s. Today is Sue’s memorial, and I am not there in body, but I and her many many cats and dogs and horses are there in spirit.

Aging, Cats, Caturday, Digital Collage, Family, Memory, Personal, Photograph

Ancestral (Artificial )Intelligence

I do not use AI to write. For me, writing is how I think, and I prefer to do it myself. If/when I post anything here that I suspect or know to be AI generated, I will tell you.

I have changed this from Artificial to Ancestral, after Abi Awomosu @ Substack. This medium was made with human history, human thought. All of it, bright and dark. It is ancestral.

Poems

Please do not assume that I am the speaker/ subject of my poems.

In these times of creative nonfiction and fictionalized memoirs, I think of the poem itself as true fiction: it is most likely not factual, but it must be true.

It is likely to be — it is best if it is — a truth I did not know before I wrote, and may not understand even then.

A poem is my way of discovering (dis-covering) what I feel; sometimes, what I think — but it is not necessarily biographical.

Caturday | Cousin Sue & Little Bibs

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