For My *Thriends

My dearest ones, I want to tell you 
what I saw today just from looking outside 
at the sky: yes, it was grey, and a mist 
hovered about the window in shadows 
of condensation. And yes, a heavy fog 
had been gathering around my heart 
for so very, very long, coloring everything 
I saw in shades, even the smallest of things, 
but today, oh today felt a little like a miracle, 
because even though I could not see the sun, 
I could see the thin strands of treetops, 
still exposed and bare from winter’s straight edges, 
each of their reaching branches like individual threads, 
sewing themselves into the sky, and I recalled 

when I used to embroider by hand, my own threads 
always too thick inside the hoop, colors bold, unskilled, 
abrupt, fingertips sore from trying to force so much through 
that thin cloth all at once, and I thought at that moment
what talent it takes for any god to create something beautiful.
And maybe that is why we artists want to make things: 

not because we want to be gods, but because we have seen 
the hand of something almighty, and we know we are tracing 
alongside fingers that do everything by design, and perhaps 
that is why it is we, the creators, who feel so very close 
to the world, so very much closer to creatures with wings 
and spirits – because we are learning to become extensions 
of those incomparable places, where immense beauty has been 
in hiding within the plainest sight, just waiting to be discovered. 


Katherine Mercurio Gotthardt, Copyright March 6, 2024, All Rights Reserved 

Dedicated to the poets, writers, creators and artists out there. You know who and how you are. 

*Thriends is a term used to describe a connection - a friend - on the social media platform Threads.



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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