Playing Games

You’d think they were playing

for an NBA championship ring.

Or maybe a berth in the Final Four.

At least a high school division title

the way they scramble for rebounds,

pass the ball around the perimeter,

look for the open player inside,

shoot from the top of the key

or drive hard for the lay-up,

fight for loose balls, all elbows

and knees and ponytails flying.

A few of the girls are big for their age;

most are not yet five feet tall,

bantam bundles of energy.

The Middle East reeks of hate.

Putin is using North Koreans

to put the screws to Ukraine.

We live each day in the shadow

of nuclear war and global warming,

and the recent US elections

give little reason for hope.

But this morning these girls

are having fun playing basketball,

and I’m having fun on the sidelines

watching these girls having fun,

and one could almost believe

God’s in his heaven,

all’s right with the world.

(St. John’s vs. St. Madeline’s)