as a reminder,
the breeze arrives, unannounced,
visitor to a forest that has grown beyond where we can clear it,
shuffle of welcoming, starting at the top
more chant than hymn
more a movement than a statement
more a green-stemmed meditation, one leaf
touching another with such care,
you’d think we would have noticed how they manage to get along
even in heavy rains
even in windstorms
even as we spin ourselves into obsoleteness,
combing to the side the thick hair of youthful ideals,
dismissing the widening hips of wisdom
all of us unrooted
all of teetering
all of us weak
from a shared and shameful sickness.
Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt
Copyright 2026
Posted in Katherine's Coffeehouse, Poetry Month 2026
