Stafford and Thomas on Aesthetics, Joy, and Snow

At the Aesthetics Meeting

We invented shape after shape,
color moving to and fro;
then outside where the plain world lives
it began to snow.

--William Stafford

On the Discipline of Joy

1
All right! I say to myself.
I’ll just do it.
So I clench my teeth
 and try to laugh,
 the operative word here
 being try.

2
stove won't light
dog won’t bite
ghost won’t fright
knot’s not tight
words are trite
            might
 as well laugh

3
if you think this is funny
you’ve got another thing coming
and it just might be Jesus

4
I sat in the morning grim
determined not to laugh
when I looked out the window
and it started to snow.

5
the joy of little children
can so easily go awry
the sternness of Big People
is needed to keep control

6
Be like little children
Jesus said
besides, who can stay stern
when it’s snowing

7
new definition of sin:
staying stern in the snow

­--Nancy Thomas