Kimberly Kralowec

[We retreat into/ the stillness of our own bones—]

We retreat into
the stillness of our own bones—
a deeper valley, where the sun must set
before it is ready. 
To stay here, you must learn to control
your hands. One night I taught
the flowers to insist
on sprouting lenten-rose 
black. We planted light 
in small spaces,
false gems. We pricked
pinholes. There is a violence 
in our reordering. If we move 
slowly enough, 
we can’t be seen.

Kimberly Kralowec is the author of a chapbook, We Retreat into the Stillness of Our Own Bones (Tolsun Books, forthcoming May 2022). A lawyer by profession, she holds a J.D. from the University of California, Davis, School of Law, and an English degree from Pomona College in Claremont, California. Her awards include the Patrick J. Hopkins Memorial Writing Award and the F.S. Jennings Prize in Expository Writing. Originally from a small town in the San Joaquin Valley, she now lives in San Francisco and has been named one of the Top 100 Women Lawyers in California. Her poems have appeared in journals such as The Night Heron Barks, High Shelf, Star 82 Review, Birdland, and West Trestle Review.

Learn more about Kim at her poetry blog, http://www.anapoetics.com, and her law blog, http://www.uclpractitioner.com.