So spit in the face of my savior

So spit in the face of my savior
Is there mercy enough for sinners like me
When all around the demons of darkness surround
The soul that is hid is still hidden in thee

Where ere may I run and hide from thee
Way deep in the darkest pits of the earth
Or high on the hills or mountains above
So great is a saviors love for me

No sinner is safe all are found
Whether repentant or rebel to him
Wide open his arms to welcome them in
What love can pierce the darkest of hearts
What price must be paid that all sinners be saved

Though constantly falling and failing
Oft fleeing the faithful the fleeting
In faith is found a love that abounds
All wounds are healed and sentences repealed 

For few who find such favor in thee 
For those once lost and now found free
Still faltering still failing
Yet grace all prevailing
For love is a river 
That flows from its giver
And cleanses and covers
All scars 

-Joshua Lee Foist

In this my idle obsession

In this my idle obsession
Where all my depression
Wanders its way

Seeking the shadows
To suppress its shape
And hide its terrors
From trespasser’s errors

But wandering eyes
May yet it surprise
Though grand its disguise
Can’t cover its lies

For fear may yet scare
One out of despair
If cornered out
Into the open air

In time may come to rest at last
Yet, gentle the touch of healing hands
Must comfort and coax it
Through the shifting sands

For time is a rough
Wave of contention
That carries us on
Its careless suspension

-Joshua Lee Foist

We are a cluster of complicated circles

We are a cluster of complicated circles
Surrounding ourselves in our own
Systems of symmetry

We are a façade of friendships formed
Of fascinating phrases with little
Function of fellowship

Our associations of our own choosing
Excluding others while errantly unaware
Engaging in our own attractions
While all surrounding factions
Function in form
With little to no interest
Of inclusion adorned
In the grand illusion

When for all its worth
Is lost in its own isolation
For this its common
Association

Where once might have been
A common kin
Where once could be
A community of three

Now is one secluded
And uprooted from the rest
Still their unsuspecting jest
Remains repressed

Oh for the skill of observation
Of open eyes and wild imagination
Where all were welcome
As they come

With arms outstretched
To everyone
For all engaged
In a single proclamation
That all may come
And join as one

-Joshua Lee Foist

Thy secret is found in thy savior bound

Thy secret is found in thy savior bound
From where all life that lingers
Still within, endures all doubt
And sin

Though the sycophant of sin
Doth suck the life within
That life which remains
Restores thy every breath

The battle which rages
For seemlingly endless of days
Will once and for all
Come to an end

When all is made right
In the great architect’s
Delight

Though the darkness
And doubt that drag thee about
Ne’er yet seems to conquer

Lift thy head
And see in light
The hand that pulls
Thee through thy plight
Through all the darkest
Depths of night

For hope remains
Within the veins
For His blood
Tis the only life
That remains

To fill and breathe
Life into thy
Near corpselike
Form

And carry thee
Onward
And out of
The storm

-Joshua Lee Foist

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