Sometimes

when I walk or run

early morning

on the waterfront boardwalk

of my town

I am followed by

the impossibly

large and serene

eyes

of a seal

just off shore

who appears as fascinated

to be watching me

as I am

to find her watching.

Is she swimming up

perhaps

toward her first human birth

as curious about our world

as when I gaze

inside myself

into another realm?

Why can’t she and I be content

navigating the seas

around us

with pleasure and ease

forget this longing

for other shores

that pries us away

from our selves?

Or is this yearning

inevitable

ancient

as the tides

propelling us both

upwards

toward the light?

From the Fall 2006 issue of Inquiring Mind (Vol. 23, No. 1)

© 2006 Gail Stark