Farewell, fair glimmer

Farewell, fair glimmer
From this final hour
Ere we remember

Hath come a time
And stolen our hearts
But none shall shine as thee

Thy mirror of time
So reflected hence
None shall change
By these events

Thy stolen kiss
But hours of momentary bliss
And heart pain and shattered
Throughout ever after

Time and its toils
Bounties and boils
All are borne
In their moments
Through solace and scorn

When shall the night to mourn
Or the day to gray
None can know the hands
That easily slip through the sand
Heart in heart and hand in hand

None so planned
As thy plunder and game
Shall but bear mention
Of thy momentary fame

Each test is a trial
That triumph in time
Through tribulation
Or termination
Shall take

Only to pass
As also to wake
For in time
Shall see
Thy glorious end
And fond fair remember
Those who were lost
And also friend

-Joshua Lee Foist

Now to death my former deeds

Now to death my former deeds
For that of which my spirit heeds
All futile failings forgive
For thine divined grace I live

Die within me that which is sin
Die within all the things of fallen men
Live the life that longs for truth
Live the life which pure is proof

For that which quickly clings
And clutches at heart
Is but starting to fade away
None can surpass thy provision
None can fill the wounds yet hidden

So breathe thy life within
Once more
Breathe and bare
This bitter soul

For all ist in thine will (control)
For thine alone hath paid the toll
So rush within thy mercy full
Rush within thy raging winds

Thy spirit cleanse all that need amend
For fire must burn now deep within
And bury all that once seemed conquered in sin

Open the eyes of truth again
That former haze be washed away
For hope hath come
To rule the day

Night be gone
Now enter the dawn
For that which once in shadow stay
Now to light in glorious day

-Joshua Lee Foist

Cast not thy dreams aside

Cast not thy dreams aside
Nor let them taste defeat
Ere they run wild

For fields of dreams
Lie fresh before thee
They are ripe
With longing to adore thee

Yet let wisdom guide
As tis good to confide
Let it lead thee
To thy truth to find

Celestial waters
Shall carry thee
And fill thy fallen heart

Flutter away
Thy follies
That may
Yet follow thee
On thy way

Let not the dawn
Nor the dark
Dictate the day

How long thee
Shall yet stay
Who can say

Whether a week
A month
Or the rest
Of thy day

When morn shall break
Shall it break thee
From thy spell

From the clutches of hell
Which in thee awhile
Once didst dwell

Shall we be
Once more
Face to face

Grace within grace
Thy gentle
Fair flower
Canst none replace

May its peddles
Portray
Thy bountiful bouquet

Once didst thou
Steal me away
In thy lonesome gaze

Where wide eyed
Thee loved to hide
Lost in thy imagining

I longed
To linger there
If to reside
Within thy portrait
Of despair

Could catch me
In thy calm
And hold me
Under palm

Wouldst follow
Thee anywhere
Should cast
Thy care

But unaware
Was I
To think

Shouldst stay
Remain the mind
Poisoned in pain

Shall ere I
Have known
A thing so rare

Shall love its virtue find
A friend as thee

Why must it claim
A soul
So close
A pair

Yet one
Fatal flaw
Should forge
Thy fear aflame

Cast down
Thy song
Away foolish longing

Thy belonging
Elsewhere
Where the valley deep
And the crossing wide

Yet narrow the way
The path
Shall find

Shall faithfulness find
A friend as thee
Should beauty
So rare
Compare as she

So leave I
Desire
At doors edge
To start

And dream within dream
In wundermeant
Depart

-Joshua Lee Foist

What in light we plainly see

What in light we plainly see
In shadow but a dimmed mystery
For what once revealed
Hath now begun to fade
What once in time did shine
Hath now sought its solitude in shade

No more the day shall see
For now the night
Hath come to be

And how long we cannot know
Twill the moon still shine
Shall it reveal in its glow
What little we yet do not know

Ah to be once more
When all was clear
So dimmed the darkness
Deep within

Doth poison the mind
That once freely
Did wander

Now only the night
Does it find
Its appetite

In sunlight
Starves til end of day
When it once more
Steals away

And makes its meal
On the melancholy
Of its dismal day

Shall it ere be
Shall this shadow
Cease in sorrow
Ere come tomorrow

Till night doth yield
Its deeds of yesterday
Then perchance
May it be a brighter day

-Joshua Lee Foist

Once we danced on the wings of the wind

Once we danced on the wings of the wind
Where it welcomed us as friends
And caught us in its currents
And carried us to places far and wide

Twas nothing from view from which it would hide
Always with us and by our side
So were the days of once we knew

Yet no longer do we
Drink in the dew of me and you
That distant delight has now departed
And severed the bond of which once we knew

Could ere come again
Such a time as this
When friendship
Was so new
As that first found kiss

Where innocence once was with us
Now seasons away
May it ere come to us again
Or have we matured beyond it
Are we better from it
Than before we knew

If all were fresh and new
As that season of innocence
Where once we walked in plain view
Always and often with you
Twas nothing hid there

And now our kisses betray
For indeed you have gone away
Ne'er shall we meet again as friend
Has this truth hung us
Has it dissolved the joy
Or resolved the fear we found
Once opened we our eyes alone

Thought we so wise
To depart thy glorious art
Were we too smart
In our divided heart
Could we not trust
That your ways were best
And your love complete
Was it not enough

Oh that we might still
Return to that which once we knew
Oh that the times less troublesome too
The price of peace is great
And far beyond our reaches to attain

Not without the shedding of blood
Upon thine untarnished soul
Couldst ere bring us to return
To hope as once when we were young

Canst love thine own betrayed
Canst the whore
Once more a maid

Not by human hand
Could it ere be planned
But of devined destiny
Could it be conceived

Yea still some hope to spare
But at the greatest cost and care
To Him to bear our sin

Such love so grand
Tis grace in hand
And perfectly planned
Despite our humbled state
And purged our pride

Can bring us return
To His side
Tis our greatest joy
None else to compare

When at last
To return to our once lost love
Forgiven and found
The betrayer turned brother
And friend
Whose love surpasses all imagining
And ne'er ceases
To give the most profoundest peace
To all who take Him in
Accepting Him who bore our sin

-Joshua Lee Foist

Thy gentle eyes

Thy gentle eyes
And thy softening smile 
Cease the fires that burn within me awhile

With one mere glance
Thee dash the doubt
And reveal the truth 
That within
Did once dance in
The souls of men

A mind that's numb
With the sum and sin
Of the humanity of men
Is refreshed by thy rubious winds of cheer

Though let not jealousy in me arise 
That breathe fire in these eyes
And spurn the path of any man
That should come between me
And thy subtle sincerity

Nay let me yet wash
In thy soothing sympathy
And drive away disparity 
With thy sweetest charity

For such love so rare
Is found there alone
In the hearts of those
Whose gentle tongue
Could break any bone

-Joshua Lee Foist

Dig thee deeper beyond the shell of thy surface perceptions

Dig thee deeper beyond the shell of thy surface perceptions
That may indeed thee find some treasure far beyond measure
Soak in the substance of thy surrounding
For here lie many things yet discovered

Cast aside thy pride
And shallow view
Look without and within anew

For far greater things lie
But just within thy view
Untainted treasures
Remain within reach

If thee could but learn
To look round
And take it all in

Something is brewing
In the minds of thy
Fellow men

-Joshua Lee Foist