There is a place yet unknown

There is a place yet unknown
A forest overgrown
Hath long awaited
The day

When travellers
Would hasten that way
Into its enchanted
Grove

Ah for treasure there
Delight that come
May recite its wonders
If the time they take
To partake in its
Pleasures

Where might one be
Who could chance to know
For in a place as this
Anything imaginable

Yet long hath it waited
And all the world debated
What could it be
This unnamed mystery

Many wars fought
And many lives lost
And still at what cost
To know what wonders
Are hidden there

Yet no one has found
Courage enough
To roam in its
Realm

For fear
Hath marked it
Year upon year
And age upon age

Waiting beckoning
Never without hope
That one day
A traveller

Would wander that way
Into the woods of that place
How calm would it be
At last for one to come
And see

Yet courage must steer
The heart of fear
And look past its
Foreboding

And enter
For then at last
The mystery unravelled
And joy anew
Might settle as dew

For at last
One's troubles past
Are worth their weight
For the woods
In wonder

At last
Hath they
Awakened

-Joshua Lee Foist

How do I give of myself

How do I give of myself
To those who happen to be there
When in my doubt and despair
How do I love and care

Oft in my head
In my mind am I
Confined by my own
Choosing to be alone

Yet when others in need
Cry out and plead
Why do I find
My desires are so hostile

Where might thy grace
Which comforts the pain
Come from this brokenness
And let others in

To love and let in
Those who are broken
That I too might become
Whole when at last

I have learned my role
To love beyond
My own control
To those who so desire
To be loved and known

-Joshua Lee Foist

Now to this uncertain path

Now to this uncertain path
To where I cannot see
For now to know the crossroads
Tis sure enough

And hope that I
Am made of greater stuff
To trudge along ahead
Though know I not the way

Oft in silence
And passing of time
Waiting and praying
Then choosing at last

The past remains
The present most sure
Though yet unsure
The future mearly
A dream

A hope of what
Might or might not be
Save only to wait
And see

Ah for waking
And wondering
Of praying
And pondering

If only to know
At last the way
Was right

Yet the way
Is marked
By faith
And not
By sight

So if it must
Be only to trust
Then by lessons learned
And wisdom discerned

May guide the way
More clear
Today

If for now
Is all
That's
Known

Enough
It shall be
To wait
And see

-Joshua Lee Foist

I have much been conceited

I have much been conceited
In my heart been defeated
By the storms that rage
Round the wires of this cage

This desert toil
Has worn me thin
And oft my sin
Has toyed
To do me in

Oh wretched soul that I am
Where can thy shade be found
When might a cool breeze
Come to appease

Though oft in doubt
And restlessness about
My soul desires
Thy steadfast love

In this desolate place
Surround me in thy
Oasis of grace
May cleanse my feet
Of all their deceitful ways

No other way but thine
Whether to death
Find I the divine

Thy vine shall
Restore me
Thy love
Shall I feed

For no earthy riches
Do I need
For thy treasures
Are beyond compare

Thy truth conquers
All despair
Thy light
Reveals

My hope
Yet remains
For all my earthly pains
Are but shards
From thy cross

My debt full
And paid
Thy sacrifice made
My joy complete
When at last
To fall at thy feet

-Joshua Lee Foist

My heart is overcome

My heart is overcome
By the thought it will be done
By the sorrow I fear
Will hasten to me on the morrow

Oh the impenetrable hours
Of waiting of restlessly debating
Whether shall be
Or tis doubt in me

Oh come to me by night
And steal me from this fright
Come to me by twilight
Before the day has dawned

Oh to draw the venom
From me that fills up within
The doubt the sin
That tortures deep within

I am overcome
My heart is numb
Oh faith if thou art near
Will you free me of this fear
Oh hope to hide me

Love abide
No one else can I confide
For all my strength is fading
And my breath near its end

My heart is breaking
But oh awaken
In me thy grace
How I long to see
Thy face

For all of me
Tis fading
And I cannot find
My way

-Joshua Lee Foist

Oh for patience and moments prolonged

Oh for patience and moments prolonged
Of ere uncertain longings and ballads unsung
Where words yet wander through the caverns
Of my mind
Where oh faith can I find

Hope for which all doubts disolve
Come and cure this divided heart
Where oh grace can comfort
This broken man
Where oh love
Can fill

For all desires true or ill
Twould waken in me
Through all of life

In trial in toil
Oft do they boil
Up within me
Till the testing
Comes complete

Oft in these times
My soul cries out
"Where oh faith
Can thee be found
Where oh wisdom
Doth thou abound"

For oft hath my heart
Plummeted aground
And there doth my
Sorrow and prayers
Enshroud

Oh grace can comfort
The coldest of hearts
Oh love to break through
The deepest of caverns

Warmth this chilling
Illing to the bone
Where long this suffering
And longing to be home

Yet home for where
Hath never known
Save mercy
Alone

If at last may find
Oh joy be kind
For this soul
Doth long

Oft in sorrow
Oft ere long
Yet stir in me
Thy wakening song

And sing thy praise
Through all the
Dark of days

That soon the dawn
Of joy may rise
And open these eyes
To life anew

Out from the grave
Of darkness bind
And come oh mercy
Come and find

Restore this heart
Ere tattered and part
From me mine former ways

That all my days
May sing thy praise
Till home at last
My soul
Should rise
And sing no more
Of death's reprise

-Joshua Lee Foist

In constant battle

In constant battle
Back and forth
The elusive downward
Spiral untangled
And caught

Were all my strength
For not
Ah to be
In that place

Fresh springs of grace
Surround
Upon the cool ground
To rest in this quiet place

Seems miles away
From this path I know
Though the thought of it
Oft do I go

Oh that one day
It may steal me away
And never to return
To this quicksand

For heart and hand
For eyes that may see
Without a doubt
Free and faultless

Oh can it be
May it yet
Come to me

When at last
To know eternity
With thee
Forever joy
Shall it
Be

-Joshua Lee Foist