ODE TO BOBBLE-HEADS

Why are Bobble-heads so popular with baseball fans?
Thousands line up way ahead of game time at
Dodger Stadium for a bobble-head of Ohtani and
His dog. Other stars or simply popular players are
Honored by this figment figure resembling its
Subject sometimes in rudimentary ways, and
Players cannot help but smile and feel the warmth
Radiated by fans coming early and seeking out
Plastic-metal replicas of their teammates – – – or
Themselves – – – a way of showing that these fans
Care and that they recognize the positive emotional
Connection that exists between player and fan,
And subsisting beneath consciousness is the
Positivity between fan and athlete embodied by
The people’s art, the bobble-head, a treasure to
Be passed through the generations just to make
Us smile. Shake the bobble-head gently, with
Soft feeling. You will be rewarded with a nod or
Twenty. Have you ever seen a bobble-head
Respond with any motion but a north-south
Nodding of the over-sized smiling head and a
Corresponding “Yes”? A free memento geared to
Make the possessor grin and feel that everything
Will be all right: it makes showing up much too early
Worth every special second. Your descendants
Will be grateful and will no doubt smile in time
With that precious and precocious
Baseball bobble-head. That’s what the world
Needs more of . . . gentle, agreeable smiles.