Barbara Sabol
Chimera
Trick of the light, I think, when the seal's head crests in the water
of this small cove where I'm swimming. A distance of ten strokes.
Less. We keep that distance a long minute—me treading water, riveted;
the seal dips, rises, turns a dark eye toward me. Curious, but not enough
to come closer. On impulse I swim out to where he last dove. Just
sunlight there, spangling the water.
sand mandala...
the journey inward
until the wind
Bio
Barbara Sabol was named the 2024 co-Ohio Poet of the Year for her sixth collection, WATERMARK: Poems of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 (Alternating Current Press, 2023.) Other recent books include Imagine a Town, which was awarded the 2019 Sheila-Na-Gig Poetry Prize. Barbara's honors include an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council. She teaches poetry workshops through Literary Cleveland. Barbara is a retired speech pathologist living in Akron, Ohio with her husband and wonder dog.