Canst look I beyond the quickening ray of light

Canst look I beyond the quickening ray of light
That for which awaken me from dark of night
To that which once seemed tis gone
Lost somewhere amidst the wrong and right

All cannot be seen so clearly
For that which is in plain sight
Oft eludeth me, so oft eludeth me

My mind is twisted in itself
Conjured in its own imaginings
For happy meetings and bitter betrayals

Yea still love prevails
Still love avails much
In a heart that trusts
That hopes one day

What may yet lie ahead
Cannot be fed by sorrow and dread
Still hope ahead is rooted sure

In a heart that pure and true
Longing always and only for you
What ere the day may bring
What ere the night should sing

This one thing, this one thing remains
Faith, Hope, and Love
And longing for Thee above

-Joshua Lee Foist

On this thy last day spent

On this thy last day spent
While early morning hours fall
For all the days yet past
All seem they an endless haze

Thy troubles often torn
Within thy broken heart adorn
All is not forgot in this
Some may steal thee with a silent kiss

Yet, through the fog of woe
Look I, out amidst the darkened sky
Still hope lies within the heart
For know I the creator of thy art

Thy passioned poisoned mind
No greater death than this may find
Yet do not seek thy comfort in the crumbled clay
Let the spirit guide and form thy favored art inside

Creation is his prize and looks on he
With jealous eyes
On all they who would despise
And steal away thy purity

Despair not in what thee cannot find
For loves a greater here than humankind
Tis true and faithful still
Though all the world should strip it of its worth

The truth for all despise
Cannot be unchanged
For a mind deranged
Could not its wonders know

Its beauty grows richer day by day
While all the while is counterfeit decays
Till all at last thy chosen few
Shall see it full in plain view

And then for all its treasures bound
Unleashed to torture and to cleanse
All enemies and new found friends

-Joshua Lee Foist

All the world is changing

All the world is changing
Yet here I remain
Standing still

All former acquaintances
Scurrying
Yet here I stand idle and worrying

Darkness surrounds me
All shadows in light
I yearn for the night

Joys slow
And come
More quickly they
Go

What fair for dreams
So on they
Are slipping away

Slipping away
While doubts
Come to play

Stealing the warmth
That once came
In the day

Wintersome sprung
And chilled in its way
Come scattered and battered
And blown thee away

What may come
Of this humdrum affair
A day a year
For what should I care

But here to glance
In romance
Through a dusty old
Looking glass

For all that these trials
And toils have taught
Is ere there a moment
Or season of bliss

A moment in time of this
Shall I miss

Twas ere there a time
All the world did seem mine

Yet there goes my heart
For no skill do I art

For know I the part
And well do I

Yet lack I the skill
To testify

All seems distant
And dreary of late

Canst find the reason
The reason to state

So sit I here
Without a blink
Just a stare

And look out into nowhere
Nowhere at all

-Joshua Lee Foist

For now the future ahead I fear

For now the future ahead I fear
Where might I be in scarce a year
A day, an hour, so soon
My thoughts steer sour

That which oft unknown
Holds a power unshown
For it holds back from us
That which we can control

We long to know all that we can
To plan all that we plan
For yesterday's blunders known
Perchance tomorrows wonders
Sewn by our own hand

Could we not find some joy
In that for which we had a hand

Sadly think I canst ever be
For the truth of which I see
Doth show that all we wrought
Tis woe

For we canst know all there is to know
For we have not the wisdom
To wield such works of art
Tis not our part to play

And yet still the wonder of it lingers there
Within our very souls
We have the will without control
Our purpose is known

Though its mere reflection tis shown
For we are feeble and frail
And canst begin to carry the burden
Of all we know

Tis our guide in whom we must confide
In him we hide our sorrow our pride
All that comes between us
Whether good or otherwise

And with such aid
Can we look to that which
Has yet to be made

And no longer fear that of which
Once were we much so afraid
For fear oft comes
By that which experience
Doth lack

Save for our friend
Who knows both beginning and end
We can most assuredly be
Confident in that which is
Yet to come

And this path ahead
For him already hath tread
Hath paid the toll
Of which our very soul
Doth cost

And for that price
All future things are sure

So fear not
That which lies ahead
If thee but walk
The path of him
Who paved it
Pebble by pebble

-Joshua Lee Foist

On going back

There are these days
Of which I oft wonder
I reflect on times past
On days without number

Would things have changed
I wonder
If things had been different
If certain meetings missed
What should be replaced

A lifetime to imagine
If things had been
That are not now
Again

Yet toiled though I may
With such thoughts of dismay
I can't but help to think
It's all part of a far greater plan

One of which I can scarcely see
Or understand
Each moment whether good or ill
Remains yet still
A piece in the puzzle
Of that grander design

For moments unchanged
Through joys and sorrows
Change they the tomorrows
Of which we know today

The lessons then learned
Ne'er prolonged
Beyond their perfect place

Each trial and test
Passes through the flame
It remains
Though marred by its memory

Yet still it guides
The course of things
Still to come

May they teach
That of which
Naivete did not know

And then depart from all
To let it go
Out into the world
And chart a new course

For time may tell the tale
Of all those who prevail
Through the trough times
The tumbles and torrents

The wisdom of which
Doth teach to each
That narrow path
Which leads to understanding

For in its knowledge
Finds one some strength
And courage to combat
All that may to it
Yet come

-Joshua Lee Foist

I near had lost my way

I near had lost my way
As slowly saw my idols crumble
to dust and clay
Alas that was but yesterday

Spring had come
For but a brief flutter
Then flurried away
Amidst the wind and rain

The cold and icy chill
Didst knock the thrill of it
from me

Indeed my heart sank for awhile
The wonder the imagining
All forgot all turned from me
And caught in the winds of winter's misery

I heard the cold wind cry out in the night
As the sleet and snow took flight
Yet somehow in their eerie cry
Heard I something far distant still

Twas familiar yet hard to place
It carried with it a tender grace
And then began I to once more remember
That voice so fond of which I oft longed to hear

Hope in all its haunting
Had wandered in and found me
wanting
My joys and follies all once employed
Now cast from me for all annoyed

Yet in this single note didst I
Find all I'd lost and wanted most
For here had all of life began
Yes here where none could fear or trap

So free and rich and full of grace
Still wonder within wonder
Twas all embrace

And soon I learned of all my heart
So long had spurned
Yet deeper and deeper still
Had burned and yearned
And longed to fill

All and nothing else
Could so satisfy
Surrendered my soul
To its full control
And satisfied all longings
In the deepest part

And when at last my breath regained
Once more began to see the life beyond the mystery
For there once lost had now been found
Twas love in all its richest and fullest displays
For in it was found all forgiveness
All hope, all joy in part
For here had found
The deepest longings of the heart

And perfect was it
Unlike its earthly perversion known
For here in all its splendor and beauty full grown
was found
And completely and wonderfully did it abound

-Joshua Lee Foist

Upon this open plane

Upon this open plane
Out into that field of dreams
Lies all possibility
And hope of that which could be

The greatest of all expectations
Will surely be beyond
All wonder and imagination

At times the sheer thought of it:
Anything - anything at all
The future though yet uncertain
Has a certain thrill about it
For by this time next
When we are here
Who knows what shall await us
But perhaps the greatest desire of all
For all our longings, trials, and tears
To at last have found
That which all our lifelong hath sought

Indeed, so breathless, boundless, and free
Shall we at once be
To walk in that light
Through that narrow corridor
Where all dreams imagined
Shall be fulfilled

When wonder of wonders
Is here and now
Shall we bow
Before such magnificence
For here at last
Are we and home

-Joshua Lee Foist