the deepening ground

Ebullience: (noun) the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts or feelings : exuberance

“Ebullience.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ebullience. Accessed 21 May. 2023.

Ebullience

by Vincent H. Anastasi 2019

The baby chimpanzee:
upside-down jester
on its mother’s knee
(mouth wide, tongue out)
face of buffoonery,
twisted strands of straw
defying gravity
dangle upward
while mama dispassionately
munches leaves.