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

Tis Times Like These That Try One's Patience

Tis times like these that try one's patience
When the many trivialities of life seem to be on the rise
Surely all is not as it ought to be
Yet in such moments one finds all passions for protest declined

What strength is there found in this
When all efforts are futile and foolish
The inopportunity causes a void within
To pause and consider the interests of men

Yea many are self-conceited and vain
And have little if nothing to gain
For pride is a fortified city of trust
Built by its own ambitions and wills

Yet for all its thrills
Once offered then
Canst hide itself from
Its arrogant sin

For trust in oneself
Becomes one's undoing
If all its pursuing
Is only itself

And when that must cease
At last shall come peace
Yet not without a cost
And a sacrifice made

For humility must come
If anything is to be done
There's hope still in view
If this fragile soul would
But gain a clue

For all is not made
By one's own hands
But by one who formed them
For His own plans

And wise is the man
Who knows it when young
For time hath a way
Of making one dumb

-Joshua Lee Foist

Of these unpleasant days

Of these unpleasant days
When ill forgotten thoughts
Come to graze

Twas once far off
And lost at sea
In a world
Of my own imagining

Yet the ache of life
At last reborn
The scorn within
My head adorn

This sin and shame
I bear once more
The youth of me
Again returns

And hearts that yearn
To be as then
Now fixed as now
In this forgotten place

A dream a dream
Twas once of thee
Of beauty and serenity
When hope did long

Upon thy every song
Where poems did lie
Of thy one desire

Retire the thoughts
Of yesteryear
To fear they may
Ne'er come again

Why waste this life
On broken dreams
Should cast them from
Thy idle mind

And find thy faith
Amidst thy fallen way
May come today
May come awhile yet still

Though all the thrill
Has fled and gone
Still look upon

The endless pool
The mind a fool
Did torture and rule

No more shall be
Cast doubt and fear
And all despair

For one is there
Who knows all pain
Hath bore it too
And more than you

Shall carry thee
Thine own
Depravity

Into that all forsaken land
And pull thee through
To wonders thee never knew

A world of hope
That lies ahead
That trusts

Thy tender touch
Doth comfort all
From sorrows great
And small

-Joshua Lee Foist

There are but days

There are but days
To throw this mad facade
Away twould be yet still
A pleasant mystery

If to be gone
From this great old world
Where tomorrows never done
For the days are but begun

Truth reveals the lies
That oft hide between the eyes
And show them for who
The me and you really are

So cast away
This shooting star
To shine down upon
The earth afar

Below shall we yet know
There is a light
That shines
Across the darkened night

Oh to but sing
Of thy joys shall bring
When all is as it truly
Should be

Shall see shall see
We when gone the worries
From them shall flee

And fade from our view
When just a world
Of you

All bright and new
This glorious
Road ahead

The path untread
Of where we'll be
Eternity

And most grand
Twill be
In thy long lost
Love

At rest and peace
From all strife and shame
When at last shall welcome us
By name

-Joshua Lee Foist