The Definition of Joy
After a painting by Monique Belitz
Joy is a surprise in a wounded world.
Joy is a purple aster, buzzing with bees.
Joy is a parliament of magpies.
Joy is an apple tree, laden with fruit.
Joy is the exuberance of sunflowers.
Joy is the pink gate to the courtyard.
Joy is the companionship of dogs.
Joy is the squash, heavy on the trellis.
Joy is resting under a tree in silence.
Joy is kneeling, lifting, carrying.
Joy is raising your arms towards the sky.
Joy is pushing the wheelbarrow heaped with harvest.
Joy is the laughter of women working side by side.
Joy is the well-trodden path from your house to mine.
Joy is the evening light on the mountain.
Joy is the whisper of grace.
Agnes Vojta grew up in Germany and now lives in Rolla, Missouri where she teaches physics at Missouri S&T and hikes the Ozarks. She is the author of Porous Land, The Eden of Perhaps, and A Coracle for Dreams (Spartan Press), and her fourth collection Love Song to Gravity has come out from Stubborn Mule Press in 2025. Agnes is associate editor of Thimble Literary Magazine and host of the Poetry at the Pub reading series in Rolla. Her poems have appeared in a variety of magazines; you can read some of them on her website agnesvojta.com
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