Barbara Sabol

Crossing the Threshold

The old Cambria Public Library was my haven—floor to ceiling books with the promise of elsewhere bound in their weathered spines. 

My cousin and I would spend whole afternoons in the alcoves, drawn into another new adventure. Still as the wooden chairs we sat in.

shadow puppets—
bare branches cast
on the window shade

Something about the heady blend of inked vellum and Pine Sol in that shushed atmosphere tapped a new reverence in us. Different from being in church. More like the woods at dusk when nymphs would come down from the trees.

                           mom’s third call
                      to supper
               paddling
        my raft back
to shore

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About the Author

Barbara Sabol’s fifth collection, core & all: haiku and senryu, was published by Bird Dog Press in 2022. She is the associate editor of the poetry journal Sheila-Na-Gig online. Barbara’s awards include an Individual Excellence Award from the Ohio Arts Council. She conducts poetry workshops through Literary Cleveland. Barbara lives in Akron, OH with her husband and wonder dogs.