Bocce Match

The court is bounded by low stonework and rails, its surface laid flat and pale. On the right a player in a patterned waistcoat drops into a lunge and lets go of a blue ball; on the left his rival sits on the wall in a flat cap, one finger jabbed toward the throw. Between them a woman in a headscarf leans on a plank table set with a bottle and a glass. A tan dachshund watches from the edge, jackets hang on a post, and brown balls lie scattered across the ground.