On days of dreamy eyed wonder

On days of dreamy eyed wonder
My heart tends to ponder
Where or when or if twould be
A moment of serenity

And then maybe
Once more
To wait and see

When moments of time
Seem so fleeting
For all the while
These thoughts repeating

Wishing, hoping, praying
Yet still, this uncertain bliss
How long, if ever twill come

The mind that's fixed
Grows numb with its fever
Toiling at times

In trial there's triumph
Yet tossed by the winds
That carry this curse

Where shall it lead
For whom, for what
For all of life's
Imagining

Seems distant and cold
Lost in this old
Memory of youth

Yet trial is its proof
Its test by which
To teach the best

Still uncertain
And unsettled
It all seems

Simple to say
And less to
Pray

Earnestly hoping
Crying out
Wordless requests
Comforted, clinging
To broken shards
Of the soul

Trusting though tried
Confident yet
For all this war inside

Yet still, yet still
A wonder, a thrill
A power beyond

Lies within
It reasons
With wisdom
Of worlds unknown

Yet conquers the doubt
That plagues one about
And fills with assurance

In faith renewed
Its promises proved
Assurance in hope
Of the future ahead

No matter the fear
Of what seems as strange
There's a comfort
Bears deeper
Than the bone

Its proof is shown
Through deeds
Made known

That all may taste
And see
This glorious
Victory

-Joshua Lee Foist

There is a beauty beneath the bud

There is a beauty beneath the bud
That bears deep beneath
The bitterness and dread

It longs to soar
From this canopy of waiting
Where desire is a fire

Unquenched it remains
In the belly of hunger pains
For longing and learning

Brings substance that's discerning
Tis bounty to behold
Beneath the manifold

Yet there lies a beauty unbridled
Brandishing its best
Till that day twill it be blessed

A blossoming bouquet
Shall be its sweet array
As it welcomes in the day

Of a bright beginning
That's boundless and free
For one privileged to enter
This grand mystery

For time hath taught
The wisdom it hath brought
Though tempted and tried

Its true love ne'er denied
For though in its heart
Desired to depart

A deeper yearning
Twas ere yet burning
Begging its allegiance

No matter the cost
For the price though great
Was more than worth
The wait

-Joshua Lee Foist

But of future things who can know

But of future things who can know
Where the sun will rise
Or the wind begin to blow

Tomorrow yet near at hand
Still the same
Remains unplanned

Desires of the heart
Begin to play their part
But the choice remains ahead

Still farther yet
The unknown is a terror
For one without control

Like tumbling blindly
Down a twisting and turning
Tunnel

Never quite knowing
Where it will lead
Or when shall it end

That which is just out of hand
Is far more greater
Than the hopes of what we'd planned

For only the author
Of life itself
Has all of life

Awaiting on a shelf
Set aside
For its proper use

For here we are
Waiting
With eager anticipation

Uncertain
Of our future
Destination

Tis faith
And truth
Of which tis bound

That holds us here
In the moment of our gaze
Waiting upon a prayer

Longing for
That unexpected
Pathway

Or unchanced meeting
To bring forth
The rest of life

In this heart beating
Tis still time
Ahead and yearning

Longing to be fed
On drops of dreams
Unsaid

For all our joys
And wonders
Of tomorrow

Borrow from the best
Who knows the rest
And where shall be

Eternity just ahead
Past the daisies and desires
Of untrodden trails

Leading ever onward
Toward the pathway of life
Where all worry and strife

Shall cease
When at last have come we
To the garden of peace

-Joshua Lee Foist

Twas of tea and serendipity

Twas of tea and serendipity
That bore the collaboration
Of these conspiring artists

While still the water was pouring
Out of the pot
This newfound friendship was formed

The future was bound to be bright
Upon this chance encounter
In time was sure
Something good would come

For only such unplanned occasions
Bring such grand associations as these
When none are sought
The rest are blessed
By the bounties that are brought
In this grand composition

-Joshua Lee Foist

The World Beyond the Looking Glass

At times I see it, like a light streaking cross my window
Still I gaze, out into the bleak darkness
Straining yet to see, a glimpse of this mere mystery

An illusion of the mind, or something beyond
From where or when, I can't begin to understand
Yet there it grazes past me once more
Flick'ring just a bit longer than before

This time I can't ignore
There is something edging beyond my door
An existence beyond a dream
Something within a world unseen

Cannot explain the world that lies beyond this window pane
Tis a memory, or so it feels, of a place once known
Of a time, where things once grew
Where all was in view

The world was new, untouched as the morning dew
No darkness had come to subdue this innocence
Yet now from my room, a distance between
The day and the night

The demons of darkness afright by the wondrous
Luminous light of the morn
Cast out from its wonder
Never to plunder

Yet still I gaze through the mist and haze
Straining to see the world that lies beyond me
A place of once I knew
Before me

Perchance again
Twill carry me across
The world that lies
Beyond the looking glass

Where all things are new
The breath of life is pure
Unstrained

No toil or pain
For all remain
Glistening
In the glorious light
Of the sun

-Joshua Lee Foist