When to stand

When to stand
And when to stand still
There is the conflict
That will battle within
To engage without
Or in

Where must all this lead
This longing, this plead
A heart that burns
A soul that yearns

For what

What lies outside
This cold existence
Who can know the jagged edges
Of this throbbing heart

Can one engage in its beating
These short shallow breaths
This air receding
This light amid the eyes
Diminishing

Will it be quenched
This flame
Once so ferocious
It burns
Though hardly visible
It longs to grow

But it does not remember
How once
The kindling that then caught its course
Has now near lost its life force

These burdens bare deep
Their callous consumes
What senses did remain
Now all grows distant
But this pain
Which seems the only kin
That comforts within

Oh to break free
Of these chains
These cords that
Dig in
And hold one fast

Oh to cast
All to the wind
Come fly away
Oh friend

All cast away
The night to the day
Where all is caught up
Between the dawn
And the gray

Light and dark
Fade away
In a sea
Of endless day

Where color once grew
So free
Now night
Has caught thee
In its grip

It's shadows
Cast across
Thy pigment
To shade all that remains

Can one be reborn
Into a new morn
Where the slate is washed clean
And no more is what had been

Oh for such a day
When one could
Toss away
All tarnished existence

And live
Live
And be loved
Loved completely

At times its thought
Too wonderful for words
But it lives
Oh it lives
And longs to be free

To be caught up with thee
For all eternity
Oh to never flee
This moment
May it ever be

Its warmth
Engages all senses
And wraps round
All defenses

It will not be ignored
It will not be tamed
For it doth not know how
For love is its character
Every fiber of its being
Is this

So come oh love
Not quietly
But with all joy
Amidst all anguish and sorrow
And carry me upon thy wings
And never let go

Though I may
Near but succumb
To doubt and fear
May they not reside here

May only thy love
Embrace
And cast out
All fear and doubt
With thy mercy and grace

-Joshua Lee Foist