Best Poems Written by Joshua Legister

Below are the all-time best Joshua Legister poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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The Human Sea - Breath of Our Sphere

The fish knows not of air.
Its sky is cold and deep.
Its breath is water weighty, fair
In currents it must keep.
It cannot breach the silver ceiling,
That barrier, bright and stark 
A world beyond all sense and feeling,
A realm of blinding dark.

As below, so above,
The pattern holds its sway.
We breathe our own thick sea of love,
And call it a single day.

We walk upon the land,
Our heads pressed to the sky
An ocean of air, by unseen hand,
Where our fleeting lifetimes lie.
We cannot climb the thinning blue,
Where pressure starts to fail,
To breathe the air the eagles do
Along the wind’s proud trail.

As above, so below,
The truth is mirrored clear.
To the depths we cannot go,
To the heights we cannot near.

Two worlds, two seas, one law 
One breath in different forms.
Against the grain of what we saw,
In silence, it transforms.
The fish in water, we in air,
Both bound by what we’re given
The same great Breath is everywhere,
Beneath the same vast Heaven.

Copyright © Joshua Legister | Year Posted 2025


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As a Person Thinketh

Believe in yourself.

The oak never asks permission to grow.
The sun never asks permission to rise.

Why should you?

This world is waiting for your words,
not another echo.

For as a person thinketh,
so they become.

Think greatly.
Speak truth.
Leave something behind
that outlives your heartbeat.

Copyright © Joshua Legister | Year Posted 2026

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What They Lose When You Withdraw

Relationships are roles
and roles are rehearsed
until someone stops showing up
That’s when you see
who they are
without the performance
I want a clean exchange
care for care
value for value
Love does not replace value
It exposes whether it was ever there
The bare minimum keeps things running
but reverence
keeps them alive
If the person taking my order
makes me feel like a nuisance
I leave
Not in anger
in alignment
Air is vital
yet free
So no one protects it
Gold is useless
yet rare
So people kill for it
Scarcity teaches
What comfort hides
Everything you say yes to
costs you a no somewhere else
And too many no’s
to yourself
turn into a life
You didn’t choose
In solitude
You can build
In slavery
You cannot
Sometimes we mistake attachment
for loyalty
and endurance
for love
But when you pull back your attention
And they ask what’s wrong
nothing is wrong
You are simply no longer
carrying bricks
for someone else’s castle
Manipulation feeds on reaction
on guilt
on noise
So give it none
Gravity doesn’t argue
When you fall
It simply is
They cannot hook you
If there is nothing
to grab
In the silence
They are left alone
with their own toxicity
And you
finally free
to decide
What kind of life
Are you building
Your own
or someone else’s empire

Copyright © Joshua Legister | Year Posted 2025

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The World in Waiting

Dry mouth, air crisp, the snap on my skin,
Room dark, curtains drawn, I stay within.
Dare not check the time, I bury my head,
Excuses keep me warm in this bed.

Yesterday’s troubles left behind,
Today, my heart’s strong, peace of mind.
Coughs and cold, sugar in check,
I rise with courage, no turning back.

Pyjamas tight, it’s a lazy day,
Perhaps a prayer to clear the way.
Outside, the world waits, blanketed white,
And though I can't see, I know it's right.




Copyright © Joshua Legister | Year Posted 2025

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A Blessing for My Children

Mind free, I fall
speaking blessings into my children’s futures.
I wish for you the abundance of life,
all that it means to truly be alive:
to feel wind against your face,
to watch the sun rise and set,
to complete hard things
and earn the quiet respect that grows within yourself.
Deep in the mind, what we call success
and what we name abundance
already exists.
To breathe the air,
to live another day
this alone is wonder.
I wish for you eyes that notice beauty,
even when it hides.
For this life to take you
to places I may never see.
I write this knowing I may not always be here,
but certain of this:
I loved you completely
and always wanted the best for you.
To see my daughters loved.
To see my sons accomplish their dreams.
To hear grandchildren speak my name
and know where we come from.
I may not know where we are going,
but in this moment, know this
I stretch my heart and my eyes
through time and space,
and I am with you always.
No realm can contain my love for you.
So smile.
Laugh.
Cry.
And when the time comes,
I will meet you
on the other side.

Copyright © Joshua Legister | Year Posted 2025


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Silent Atlas

It's 5:30 AM, sky bruised and quiet,
And he’s there at my feet, my loyal companion,
Eyes bright, no judgment, just need.
Out we go, one steady step, then another,
Field sprawled wide, we chase the edges of dawn.

Back home, the soft hum of her breathing,
Kids' backpacks lined, the day pulls at me
Like a string too tight, ready to snap.
She’ll mention Kirsty or Chanelle, that sour glance,
The unseen weight settling deep in my chest.

Dog's been sick on the sofa,
a mess to clean up.
Gaffer’s on edge; I was late last week,
Late again today, but I hold tight, keep my mouth shut,
Because I know my place in this ticking machine,
My hands on the wheel, the weight on my back.

Site hazards, the grind, every move a risk,
One wrong turn, it’s out the door,
No job, no check, holiday slipping away,
Kids’ smiles are just dreams I’m not sure I can keep.
And here I stand, silent, loaded with fear,
Shoulders set to hold all we need.

The night job was gone in a flash,
Zero hours, zero thought, zero hope.
I glance at my phone, every message a pull
To face the ones I’ve not seen in too long,
Mates left waiting in the empty hours
While I traded my joy for duty’s hard call.

Fuel’s low, spirits cracked,
And there she is, our little girl,
Waiting to dance with a smile I missed.
I sit here, empty tank, empty hands,
Wondering if I’ll break, if I’ll bend or stay still,
When the phone rings, it’s him, my friend,
The voice I forgot could ease this weight.

With words of work, a hand held out,
A site to supervise, steady pay on the rise,
I take his offer, grip tight to his faith.
And in his strength, I feel my own,
A quiet reminder that I am not alone.

So I go home, kiss foreheads soft,
Tell her I’m sorry for what I can’t always say.
My battle is quiet, a shadow I bear,
So they don’t know the scars I wear,
So they don’t feel the tremor beneath,
The moments I wrestle, the pain I hide.

Because I am here for them always.
A silent Atlas, strength worn down,
But still, I carry the world, weight and all.
And tomorrow, I’ll wake with dawn’s bruised sky,
Dog by my side, loyalty unasked but given.
And I’ll breathe, keep walking, one step, then the next,
Knowing that love is the light I keep,
And for them, I’ll rise, I’ll stand, I’ll protect.

Copyright © Joshua Legister | Year Posted 2024

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Through Different Eyes

What took you all night
Took me all day.
What you found heavy
I found light.
What made you think Evil
Made me think of only good.
What made you choose violence
I chose peace.
For the world you see
Is shaped by the lens you choose.

Copyright © Joshua Legister | Year Posted 2024

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A Partner in Focus


I am

Copyright © Joshua Legister | Year Posted 2024

Details | Joshua Legister Poem

They Never See

They Never See
They never see the damage in their hands,
only the wreckage left in someone else’s.
They walk through broken rooms calling it fate,
while mirrors stand untouched,
gathering dust.
They paint you villain just to feel like saints,
rewrite the script so they survive the story.
Truth bends easy when you fear yourself,
and blame becomes a language
they speak fluently.
Every road they take ends the same
not by chance, not by curse,
but by footsteps that refuse to learn
the weight of where they land.
They cannot sit with silence,
cannot face the stillness
where truth waits patiently.
So they run
loud, restless, pointing outward.
Empty pockets, open hands,
spending like tomorrow owes them something.
And when the bill comes due,
they pass it round the table
like it was never theirs.
But life keeps count.
Quietly. Precisely.
No matter how they twist the tale.
And one day,
when the noise dies down
and there’s no one left to blame
they’ll meet themselves
for the first time.

Copyright © Joshua Legister | Year Posted 2026

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Sacred Algorithm of Mysteries and Time

Faced with dangers that linger in uncertain times,
Time and again, we’ve danced the spiral climb.
Who controls the strings, the sacred rites of flight?
The unseen hand beneath the veil of night.

Wi-Fi whispers through walls we can’t see,
A.I hums in algorithms, beyond ones and threes.
Empires fall, their ashes cradle keys,
To truths whispered by Templars, dragons, and seas.

Atlantis drowned, Antarctica’s icy embrace,
Anunnaki, Nephilim lost in time’s chase.
Do we leap? Do we fight? Or let mysteries be,
And accept that the unknown is humanity’s plea?





Copyright © Joshua Legister | Year Posted 2024

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