WATERMARK

a poet’s notebook

Established 02004

poppy

November 12, 2007

Remembrance Day

MP3 File When they brought my father out of Germany, he weighed ninety-two pounds. He had no tolerance for picky eaters. Was he still a boy then? Was he kind? They could leave the camp but had nowhere to go. A… Continue reading

Current Affairs

photo, photograph, poem, poetry, poppy, remembrance day, veterans day
June 15, 2006

Thursday Walk

Glorious poppies, almost done: A very old mountain ash tree: And a younger, but aging, park bench: Continue reading

Utata

bark, mountain ash tree, park bench, photo, photograph, poppy
June 6, 2004

Blue Flax & Red Poppies

Continue reading

garden, Photos 2004

flax, flower, garden, photograph, poppy
May 28, 2004

Sudden Happiness

At the end of a long, dim day I sit in my rain-drenched garden and am suddenly overcome with happiness — for absolutely no reason. Continue reading

garden, Noticed, Photos 2004

garden, photograph, poppy

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.

poppy

Remembrance Day

Thursday Walk

Blue Flax & Red Poppies

Sudden Happiness