Katherine Widner
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Katherine Widner
@katherinewidner.bsky.social
320 followers 380 following 90 posts
Writer, professor, lit lover, & cozy gamer 🙃

My debut poetry collection, “I Wish I Could Write," is now available in print and eBook on Amazon here: https://shorturl.at/vkpZs

Follow me everywhere! https://linktr.ee/katherinewidnerpoetry
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It is April 1st ya’ll— AKA, the first day of National Poetry Month! 🎉

Subscribe to my Substack to stay up to date with all the fun things happening this month!

Here’s my poem for Daily Challenge #1: katherinewidner.substack.com/p/my-hands-a...

#NationalPoetryMonth #katherinewidnerpoetry
My hands are weary from typing, My mind, exhausted, seeks insight and motivation, My lithe, pale fingers dance back and forth Over black keys, backlit with illumination. I know not where the words come from, They travel from my brain, through my limbs, and out my hands: Black words appear, like magic, upon My page, once stark white, lonely, and bare. My hands, dutiful basins of wisdom, traverse The copious pages writ once before And care not to stop and mimic voices of those long-gone— Hence, my hands are weary from typing. -Katherine Widner
April 2, 2025 at 3:49 AM
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“Contaminated Brain”

#vss365 #euphoria #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
We live in times of Canned laughter and Store-bought silence, Breathing in air Through holes punched In plastic bags, and embracing Without touching, hand To gloved hand, mouth To taped mouth. Wash, rinse, repeat. Every experience, an echo of Of what should be, every Interaction removed from Itself, sanitized and scrubbed Until we become desensitized To everyone and everything— Until joy is not joy, but Dull, meaningless pleasure. Wash, rinse, repeat. Wash, rinse, repeat. We duplicate the experiment Longing, throbbing, aching To experience deviation. But we will never Feel true euphoria Until every person Becomes free. Wash, rinse, repeat. Wash, rinse, repeat. Wash, rinse, repeat. -Katherine Widner
March 31, 2025 at 9:09 PM
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“Joy’s Thief”

#vss365 #velveteen #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
Velvet amongst velveteen. One longs to offer The world something More than mere utility, The other longs to be Something more than Flesh to be touched and seen. -Katherine Widner
March 30, 2025 at 9:04 PM
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“Ode to Alexithymia”

#vss365 #gossamer #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #hainka
#haiku #tanka #hybrid #katherinewidnerpoetry
Gossamer strands, the Intricate albedo or The vernix caseosa. Protective film will Not protect the fruit. Inside— Gossamer strands, the Heart and soul, as they grow, risk Being juiced or just sucked dry. -Katherine Widner
March 29, 2025 at 7:49 PM
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“Richard Parker”

Btw folks— read about the real story of the Mignonette! It’s wild! Or listen to the Avett Brothers’ album Mignonette ☺️ (that’s how I learned years ago!)

#vss365 #mignonette #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #tanka #katherinewidnerpoetry
My family, the Mignonette. And I am the Cabin boy. From a Distance, all is serene. But Real love does not row that way. -Katherine Widner
March 28, 2025 at 8:57 PM
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Sorry it’s so late today y’all!! I was at work way too long 🤪

“They Say / I Say”

#vss365 #canoodle #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
they say that teen girls who make “googoo eyes” and canoodle with boys are destined for trouble and nasty, hopeless whores. i say that teen girls are merely searching for something they will never find in the arms of someone else. -Katherine Widner
March 28, 2025 at 2:08 AM
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“Marital Sex”

#vss365 #desire #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
Love and desire Are two Chromides; One yellow and The other green— Different genera, but The same species. Our bodies drown In symbiosis, hands Drifting softly, desperately. Lips brushing, fingers Touching, I bite, Teeth bared, a Smile on my Face, and trace My tongue from Place to place, Cartographically, Following the roots Of my longing. We imprint flesh Against flesh, chest Against chest, heart Against heart, open Mouth against raw Soul. We grasp Frenzied, restlessly clasping Sweaty palms at The crisp sheets, Carphologially, And my hair, Tumbling down, earth Brown, like foliage Or a veil, Hides my wretched Shame from the Eyes of God In an embrace Too tender to Ever be seen. -Katherine Widner
March 25, 2025 at 8:05 PM
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“Starving Artists”

#vss365 #passion #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
Like many artists, the Writer finds carnal Passion in their Craft. They desire openly And wantonly, eyeing The page, a blank Canvas, and the Act of seduction, From spark to idea, From idea to the page, Causes a sensual Sensation, a mix of Lust and anticipation. And with every word written They softly trace their Fingertips around every Crevice and nook, As if they are trying To absorb the piece Through skin-to-skin Contact— like they are Desperate to know it, To make love to it, To keep it to themselves. They place their lips Upon the flesh, sharing Secrets with the Universe that only The page can tell. -Katherine Widner
March 23, 2025 at 8:14 PM
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“The Church of the State”

#vss365 #indivisibility #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
They say it’s only In oppressed regimes That citizens are forced To bow, to crawl and Scrape their knees. They show us pictures Of classrooms, dingy Walls with portraits of Leaders allegedly supreme— They say the eyes Of those gods will Follow you, from room to Room, from place to Place, and it’s your Family that will pay The price if you End up a disgrace. Yet here we slumber In the land of the free, With the illusion of choice: In the morning we get To choose coffee or Tea! And we send off Our children to learn Independence, to learn To see— but Instead they chant praises To a flag, purporting Indivisibility. And the problem with a Flag, instead of a picture Is that anyone can wave it And regurgitate holy scripture. That flag, like those portraits Are just empty, meaningless Things, meant to inspire Fruitless, garish mimicry. No matter the love we give Or the allegiance we pledge, We live in a place we Will never be free. -Katherine Widner
March 22, 2025 at 2:24 PM
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“Uranglass CorningWare”

#vss365 #radioactive #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
My trauma, like Uranglass corningware Was handed down to me. A family heirloom— A gift that I Could not appreciate Nor understand As a little girl, but now Fully resent and Embody in my Grown woman’s flesh. My hands, now Stained, radioactive From cradling it, frantically Turning it over and over, Interrogating it from every Angle in the hopes Of finding something Meaningful or lovable, Would rather shatter The thing than Pass it down to Someone new. -Katherine Widner
March 21, 2025 at 9:00 PM
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My Grown-Up Lullaby

#vss365 #lullaby #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
I never had a lullaby As an infant or a child— My mother never sang, My father merely whistled. But as I grew older I realized an inherent Desire to find a Tune that could somehow Soothe me in times of Perpetual sorrow. “Oh Mary, this London’s A wonderful sight. There’s people here Working, by day And by night.” When I hear the lyrics, And I feel the melody, My soul sings in tandem. My heart pangs, The notes stab me, irenically Through the middle of my heart, All the way down to my gut Until I can See only mountains, Until I can Taste only rain. I am both soothed and Revitalized by the symphony Of a place I’ve never been, and A time I wasn’t raised, And I take comfort In the horripilation— The manifestation Of passion, that my Grown-up lullaby brings. -Katherine Widner
March 17, 2025 at 8:43 PM
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Ode to my Sacré-Cœur Rosary

#vss365 #cerulean #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
St. Christopher watches Me. As I drive Down the road, Blood red beads Dangle in my periphery, Dancing, like scarlet Ribbons, liquid in their Movements. Against The sun‘s light, Hints of cerulean Glint off the beads, Haphazardly swinging. Momentarily blinding. I reach out to Carefully thumb the Face of our Lord— No silent prayers, No confessions or thoughts. Just my eyes on the road, And the beads Winking at me, mixing Together like Blood and water. -Katherine Widner
March 16, 2025 at 10:43 PM
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Historia est Magistra Vitae

#vss365 #vssdaily #interregnum #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
History repeats itself— Humanity, seeking truth, Plunges its emblematic hand Into thick quicksand, searching For a relic to help them Better understand The world they find Themselves stuck in. The common thread that Ties us to our past Is a genuine belief that The world has reached its Unnatural end— that times Are at their worst, that we Stand, itching to jump, At a precipice. Will they say This is another such Interregnum? Perhaps. I say, hold fast And cling to hope— The one holy relic Made to last. -Katherine Widner
March 15, 2025 at 1:14 PM
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In Situ

#vss365 #vssdaily #chime #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
Memories come to me Quite suddenly— besieging My mind, and all at once I find I am out of step With my own time. Like a ghost that sighs, Wind, nature’s intrinsic Exhalation, sifts my thoughts Through a sieve, until all I can Hear are the faintest Tinklings of a wind chime. Little birds splash about In a stone fountain, but I remain Contentedly rooted, as the sights And smells fill up the void in my mind. If I squint hard enough, it’s almost As if I am still there, In situ, sitting contentedly among The chachkis, as if My scent remains, still lingering Like cigarette fumes Soaked through old oak paneling. -Katherine Widner
March 12, 2025 at 10:25 PM
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Springtime in the South

#vss365 #vssdaily #flocculent #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
In the south, when march Rolls around, the dogwoods, The magnolias,the crape Myrtles, and the Bradford pears, Whose bare hands have reached heavenwards The whole of the winter season Turn their palms upward, as if they’re Begging for alms. Nature grants, instead, flocculent Alabaster petals— bales of Cotton, not yet vermillion stained As were the hands that picked them In days not yet long gone by. And as the petals fall and the Earth shivers, her flesh growing accustomed Once more to the warmth and the light, The Bradford pears exude a fetid odor That only southerners may find Reminiscent of the horrors of Such strange fruit. -Katherine Widner
March 11, 2025 at 11:40 PM
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Liberty Transfigured to Rigmarole

#vss365 #vssdaily #rigmarole #rigamarole #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #freeverse #katherinewidnerpoetry
Liberty transfigured to rigmarole Sometime in recent days past. The naysayers merely shrugged and yawned, Shook their heads and said it wouldn’t last. But every day since, they’ve hoisted their flags, Grown bolder, much more loud and intense. They want to ban the words from our books To instead tout robotic nonsense. They want to rip our schools from the ground And replace them with tech and pretense. They want to cross out “the land of the free” And instead, erect a barbwire fence. -Katherine Widner
March 10, 2025 at 11:33 PM
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Salmon hearted girl
In a weir-filled world— I can’t
Help but want to fly.

#vss365 #vssdaily #weir #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #haiku #katherinewidnerpoetry
Art remixed on Canva by Katherine Widner
March 9, 2025 at 10:19 PM
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Pomeranian
In a purse, a teacup full
Of tenacity,
Whining, yapping at strangers.
The things you see at Walmart.

#vss365 #vssdaily #pomeranian #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #tanka #poetrycommunity #katherinewidnerpoetry
Art piece: American Gothic by Grant Wood. Remixed on Canva by Katherine Widner.
March 8, 2025 at 7:59 PM
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Sorry I’m late today y’all! It has been a very busy day 😅

#vss365 #vssdaily #involution #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #katherinewidnerpoetry
The earth wields Involution as a Double-edged sword; Two children, both Bastards, born of Life and of death. Nature, bearing The fruit of all life— Carries her uterus, proud As it swells Out and in, Up and down, Full of life and promise, With the never ending Oscillation of time. Machine, bearing not promise, But the hope of better life— Swings his fists, prideful As they bludgeon Up and down, Round and round, as An ozymandian Ouroboros that refuses To be contained or tied down. Yet, how easily their Roles may be reversed. And life must bring death and Destruction must bring creation, And one begets the other, As the universe demands And expects. -Katherine Widner
March 7, 2025 at 2:31 AM
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Hello friends! I’d like to announce that my debut poetry collection, I Wish I Could Write will be going live on Amazon on March 10th, 2025. For more info, please feel free to check out my substack or website, linked in my bio. Thank you for your support ☺️❤️ #poetry #poetrycollection #writingcommunity
March 4, 2025 at 12:47 AM
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#vss365 #vssdaily #balustrade #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #katherinewidnerpoetry
She walks the hallway Like a gangplank— Arms outstretched, Toe to heel and heel to toe. She feels the wood Upon her fingers, as They lightly thwack against The balustrade. Her Mother yells not to throw Her toys down, Off the side of the balcony To the room below. But a sense of rebellion, Curiosity unquenched Seizes her suddenly, So down the rabbit, Down the dolly, Down the teddy bear go. Alas, she feels nothing. Defeated, she crosses her Arms, she softly sighs, and In lieu of tears, she Scrunches her nose. Worst of all, She has no idea How this despondency— This discontentment Will take root And grow. -Katherine Widner
March 3, 2025 at 10:03 PM
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This one may or may not be about someone we all know… 🙈

#vss365 #vssdaily #fathom #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #katherinewidnerpoetry
We daren’t fathom The endless fathoms Of starry sky or raging sea— We desire to explore But what good may come From reaching for the Depths of the ocean Or the limitless expanse Of countless galaxies? Space, like a salt flat Where life cannot thrive And hope cannot see, Is not best conquered, Colonized by we who Know so little of ourselves Yet think we have our Futures in a chokehold, and Science in our mastery. It is not for mortal men With generational fortune, Hands covered in blood To seize— it is for No one— it sings its Indomitable song to fulfill Its own cosmic destiny. -Katherine Widner
March 2, 2025 at 4:38 PM
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#vss365 #outlier #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #earlymorningwriting #katherinewidnerpoetry
We are told We are outliers. Bred in abnormal manufacturing Conditions, we are unusual Events with even more Unusual characteristics. Our narratives, seemingly Foreign and intimidating Could not possibly reflect Their target populations. Our alleged differences, The watercolor beauty of our Intersectionality, they claim Distorts their statistical analyses— So we must be excluded, indefinitely. But we are not measurement or Data entry errors that Require examination, like Corpses, splayed out and Cut open, blood drained, and Organs meticulously placed. They would have us be cadavers. But we are living, thriving flesh and Natural parts of society. Being different unites us, And is not unnatural. We should not, We cannot, We will not Be excluded. -Katherine Widner
February 28, 2025 at 1:04 PM
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#vss365 #contour #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #katherinewidnerpoetry
Longing goes deeper than bones. It reaches beyond concupiscence— The interweaving legs and the Sloppy kisses and the Desperate, ravenous indulgence. The deepest of longing, Both corporeal and ethereal, Is a raw, natural desire to Touch— to seek to understand The inner workings of the self. To explore with your hands The creases and contours of the Mind, to lovingly stroke The cerebellum, to thirstily Gulp down the cerebrospinal fluid. Love and longing, best expressed, Emerge when heart caresses heart, When mind caresses mind, In the most holy of Palmer’s kisses. And all the while, you Ache with unholy desire To know your lover Better than you know yourself. -Katherine Widner
February 27, 2025 at 6:15 PM
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#vss365 #interim #writingcommunity #poetry #poems #writesky #writing #poetrycommunity #katherinewidnerpoetry
Life is interim In the grand Ebb and flow Of the universe. But love— It is constant and consistent, With strength enough To outlast the Constellations themselves, And power ample To burn brighter And more true. When the world Falls down and The stars, at last, Do fade and die away, All that will be left In the interstellar tumult Will be flotsam and jetsam Floating on in the darkness. But the love we shared, my darling, Will light the way into oblivion. -Katherine Widner
February 26, 2025 at 10:19 PM