  Topological properties of energy flow of light are fundamentally interesting
and have rich practical applications in optical manipulations. Here,
skyrmion-like structures formed by Poynting vectors are unveiled in the focal
region of a pair of counter-propagating cylindrical vector vortex beams in free
space. A N\'eel-Bloch-N\'eel skyrmion type transformation of Poynting vectors
is observed along the light propagating direction within a volume with
subwavelength feature sizes. The corresponding skyrmion type can be determined
by the phase singularities of the individual components of the coherently
superposed electromagnetic field in the focal region. This work reveals a new
family member of optical skyrmions and may introduce novel physical phenomena
associated with light scattering and optical force.
