​PROSE POETRY

CHERYL  A. OSSOLA
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Infinite Blues

​​At the negation of infinity, birds hang like brooches and harbor seals bask, spotted slugs on stacks of soused granite planted in a reverse sky. We are here for the whales, long shadows in water deeper than shouldered skyscrapers. Like breathing breakwaters, they surface in long, rising rolls, shattering the gunmetal depths, igniting splintered waves into sparkling stars. A dripping fin salutes, a platter of eye appraises, fetid breath reminds us: animals need air. We are floating toward the improbable. This is an ocean galaxy where dreams travel at warp speed, memories rely on faith. I am a child again, rapt on the blue whale diving overhead in the museum where my father worked, its long, looping circle holding me at its center, then setting me adrift.

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Cheryl A. Ossola writes poetry and short prose (Fourteen Hills, Switchback, Writers Digest, boats against the current, etc.), novels (The Wild Impossibility, Regal House Publishing; How Long a Shadow, out on sub), and “Italicus: a writer’s life in Italy” (italicus.substack.com).