WATERMARK

a poet’s notebook

Established 02004

Snapshot Poems 2011

January 19, 2011

Me at 3, and a Snapshot Poem

I pulled this photo out for an assignment from the mondo beyondo dream lab + the gifts of imperfection class*: Your task today is to find a childhood photo of yourself and dedicate a song to the tender part of you who is making her way back to her whole heart. For the song,… Continue reading

mondo beyondo dream lab + gifts of imperfection, Snapshot Poems 2011

brene brown, gifts of imperfection, mondo beyondo dream lab, Snapshot Poem
January 12, 2011

Snapshot Poem 12 January 002011

Snow. Rain. Snow. Ice. It’s cold here. And treacherous. I am contemplating big words. Courage. Compassion. Connection. Backyard birds huddle under the eves. Ice thickens on the face of the pond. Courage: from heart Compassion: to sit with suffering Connection: a circle of friends The streets are a maze of unfortunate collisions. Wreck after… Continue reading

One Little Word, Snapshot Poems 2011

“Big Tent Poetry”, poem, Snapshot Poem
January 4, 2011

Snapshot Poem 04 January 02011

today, hawks took two sparrows from the feeder i am readingabout shame and resilience on the other side of the window:ice fog the number of life blowsmay determine toughness through the fog i can see scattered feathers i put my hand to the glass it’s cold even on the warm side Continue reading

Snapshot Poems 2011

hawk, poem, Snapshot Poem, sparrow

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.

Snapshot Poems 2011

Me at 3, and a Snapshot Poem

Snapshot Poem 12 January 002011

Snapshot Poem 04 January 02011