Katherine's Coffeehouse

potting succulents

Poetry based on vss365 and Mindful Writing course prompts

A haiku based on the #vss365 writing prompt "priority"

For my mother-in-law, Doris "Dorie" Gotthardt, who, battling cancer, sang at sunrise service at Colonial Beach.

Katherine’s poem “Now Entering Manassas” was the winner of the adult “time capsule” poetry contest. Katherine read her poem April 1 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 […]

Massachusetts, Circa 1988 I am thinking about the first time anyone heard the word computer. Was it like when I learned what Windows was? Or how a GPS could magically take me anywhere I wanted without getting lost? No more need to stop in for maps I’d never fold back in their envelopes. Those required […]

-Katherine Gotthardt This morning and I’m thinking of the wolpertinger, shy but fierce creature of the night. Bavarian, so it sounds exotic.

What I really want is this: to go back to the time on the front lawn, worn blanket on crabgrass and wildflowers, baby dolls and tea sets and nothing, nothing more than ants to worry about.

This morning, the coffee pot looked different, my husband having switched out one gadget for another, far too complicated for such an early hour. And so for a change, I make tea with a satisfying plop of heavy cream, squall of sweetener, one sip reminding me of Mrs. Torpey, and Mrs. McGrievy, and that tall, smiling lady my friend and I visited

My dear friend, this morning at 4 I found myself breathing into the fur of my dog’s thick neck and thought, perhaps I’ve been holding too tightly to everything that lives –