have a ball

youthful energy loose on sandy beach

focused and released with ball in hand

tapped, punched, hurled, batted, flung

against a wall, toward a teammate

at a friend-now-competitor-enemy

arced, curved, straight at, or near miss

requiring diving catch for points

for laughter, bonding and high spirits

a simple sphere gives life and purpose

and, at times, translates into respect

and joy in this globe of Earth

which gives and sustains our lives

rattle-brained

rattle-brained implies

return to rattle shaking

child of play and bliss

Dante’s Angels

Dante’s Angels by Diana K. Lubarsky

i re-read Lubarsky’s Dante’s Angels

and laughed aloud again and again

and chuckle-sobbed at places

i hadn’t picked up on the first time

i could write a script for these

marvelous old ladies, but what

i really want is to see is them

interacting and grumbling over

each other in a small playhouse

maybe with re-arrangement

of the scenes, i can bring their pain

the joys, their solace and their courage

to more of us looking our own finality

in its whiskered chin, if not its eye