The Shedding Before the Swell | Kara Knickerbocker

Kara Knickerbocker is an internationally published writer and world traveler from Saegertown, Pennsylvania and the author of the chapbooks The Shedding Before the Swell (Dancing Girl Press, 2018) and Next to Everything that is Breakable ( Finishing Line Press, 2017).  Her poetry and essays appeared in or are forthcoming from:Longridge Review, Coldnoon, The Laurel Review and the anthology Voices from the Attic, Vol. XXII, among others. Knickerbocker currently lives in Pittsburgh, where she works at Carnegie Mellon University. She is a proud member of the Madwomen in the Attic at Carlow University and co-curates the MadFridays Reading Series. You can find more of her at www.karaknickerbocker.com.     Notes on ShadowsI think of mid-July sun, tracing with blue sidewalk chalkor lying on cool grass underneath apple blossomsin the backyard.I didn’t think you,sunken into a hospital bed oceans between us.The island of your body, shrinking fast like the view of Singapore from my airplane window