We are not immortal, and neither is this poem

October 11, 2024 / Katherine Gotthardt / Comments Off on We are not immortal, and neither is this poem 
After a while,
I am tired of trees.

Not the woody-armed entity,
bigmouthed and knotty nosed,
that watches over our home.
Not the longstanding gathering
of trunk and twig, thick skinned,
evocatively named: Sycamore.
Black walnut. River birch.
Red maple. Not the resolute

cedar, meditative, still, impermeable, 
apotheosis having long been

completed. They are actualized,
the Holy of Holies, fabled and 
tangibly ancient. Unlike we,
awaiting our turn, reading
through watch tick and sand, now
come, now here, now somehow

gone, before we’ve reached the
finishing line. It’s that humble

word I’ve consistently heard
since the moment I learned
what memorizing meant.
What rote learning meant.  
Stanzas made for reciting,
me in the back of the room
because I, too, was growing tall: 

“I think that I shall never see, 
a poem as lovely as a tree.”

I’d say the rest. Maybe even 
I’d write more. But the words 
will never last like roots, deeply 
faithful to good earth, glorious 
and grateful as boughs, finding 
bits of heaven. Turning to heaven.
 
Simple, right? Memorable and 
gracious. Perhaps I’ll stick with trees. 

Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, copyright October 11, 2024, all rights reserved
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Katherine Gotthardt

Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, M.Ed., writing concentration, hails from Virginia. 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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