Monitor

All screens switch.
Not momentarily –
any milli-moment.
Count them in fractions.
One-one hundredth. Two.
Dissolved
into some vague animation
where a single slide
begets another,
crumbled pixels,
the one before
lost in the attention span
of a short-sighted
user.
What matters is
the next page, yes?
What happens
is the following,
when nothing we knew
carries over, yes?

It’s not too depressing.
Everything is new.
Everything is bad and good
and different.
The world doesn’t wait
for us to transition.
Time doesn’t care
if we can stream
as fast as it courses.
A minute ago,
I wrote this line.
Now I write a second,
and all is still okay,
still still, but still changed,
morphed into the body electric,
electrons building through
the very blood of a keyboard,
landing in fingers too tired
to go on. But that has

already happened,
googolplexian numbers
of times, different editions,
new issues,
the next release,
the way the cache empties
with just one touch,
and all we knew
is no longer.
All has slid to the next number
that used to be hands
and now are only reminders
lodged on the monitor’s corner
that, though the digits
turn slowly, seemingly,
it’s behind the scenes that counts.
Something is keeping tabs.

Best to get here quickly
if you really want to see.
Best to look through the window
crusted with years.
Best to peel open your eyes
and watch the firing of everything.
See how everything ignites.

#KatherinesCoffeehouse

Katherine Gotthardt

Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, M.Ed., writing concentration, hails from the Northern Virginia/D.C. metro area. She considers herself a writer by nature and by trade, having begun writing for fun as soon as her mother helped teach her to read. An active part of the literary community, Katherine was a past-president and a founding member of Write by the Rails (WbtR), the Prince William Chapter of the Virginia Writers Club. Katherine has been a Prince William County Poet Laureate nominee and was the winner of Inside Nova’s 2019 and 2020 Best of Prince William award in the category of author. Her poetry and prose book Get Happy, Dammit: Staying Inspired and Motivated in an Often-Unhappy World received a Silver Award from the Nonfiction Authors Association. Katherine's children’s book, A Crane Named Steve, hit number one in its category on Amazon in 2019. Katherine then took first place in the free verse category of Loudoun County Library Foundation’s 2020 Rhyme On poetry contest for her piece "Discussion Topic." The Prince William Arts Council and Poet Laureate Circle awarded her the 2020 Outstanding Poetry Project Award for her leadership in Write by the Rails' Poems Around Town poetry installation. In 2021 Katherine earned second place for "Aftermath" in a Poetry Society of Virginia national contest and the regional Seefeldt Award for Arts Excellence in the category of Individual Artist. She won first place in the Virginia Writers Club statewide Golden Nib contest in the poetry category for her poem "Kayak." Katherine was recognized as a PW Perspective 2021 DMV Best Business award winner in the category of author. In April 2023, Katherine’s poem “Now Entering Manassas” was the winner of Manassas, Virginia's adult “time capsule” poetry contest. Katherine read her poem at the 150th anniversary celebration, the translated version by Jorge de Villasante was read in Spanish by Bianca Menendez, her poem was published in Neighbors of Historic Manassas magazine, and it was included in the city’s time capsule. While Katherine is well-known for her poetry, she also has established a solid reputation for writing articles, columns and short fiction. She is published in dozens of journals and anthologies and has authored 12 books: Poems from the Battlefield, Furbily-Furld Takes on the World, Approaching Felonias Park, Weaker Than Water, Bury Me Under a Lilac, Late April, A Crane Named Steve, Get Happy, Dammit, D.C. Ekphrastic: Crisis of Faith, Thirty Years of Cardinals Calling, Get Happier, Dammit and We All Might Be Witches. She uses proceeds from her books to support giving back initiatives.
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