Beginning of March

There was a time when hope was in vain
It never ceased to freeze and rain
Sleet turned to ice and then back again

The barren womb of Winter lay
Forgotten by flower 
Untouched by sun's ray
The bare branch blew
Day after grey day

Then the season shifted
Certain changes came
The shelving of rich hearthside legends
The talk of many a muffled walk
Like the sap which surges through stem and stalk.

Like a sign of life
The sun shone that day
An emblem of the everlasting
Lambs leaping at your coming
The Lark signing its skyward longing.

With face as yet unseen
This spring-child comes
Yet we hear his heartbeat like distant drums
And though the hope of many dies
We face the day with faith filled eyes.

Joe Morriss

March 2008

Open Hearted Church

The ever open door

Now firmly closed

Against the rain, against the cold

Ornate, foreboding and set in stone

The gateway to safety,

Beautifully carved

Pleasing to the eye

But heavily barred.

There she lays

On the floor

Just skin and bone

Out in the rain
Exposed to the cold

Giving up hope and left all alone

At the gateway to safety,

Beautifully carved

Pleasing to the eye

But heavily barred.

Is there nothing more

Beyond that door

Than the priest with his crimson and gold?

What about sharing

What about the poor?

At the gateway to safety,

Beautifully carved

Pleasing to the eye

But heavily barred.

That's what we're here for

For those who roam

Who lay in the rain and the freezing cold

They need a welcome

And they need a home

Not a gateway to safety, that's beautifully carved...

But a church that will love and open its heart.

Joe Morriss

January 2010

The will to live

The Will to Live

Silently someone just learned to forgive,

While a man with a voice screamed "Die!"

My heart cries loudly "live, live, live!"

And my head turns away from the lie.

We're not all destined for fame abroad,

With stars in our hopeful eyes

But some will find their sweet reward

As the fire of this life dies.

Frustration turns its restless blade

With all its vain intent,

While in my breast the knowledge lays

Of what the master meant.

Charisma fueled by selfish pride

Is like its cousin fame

And only fools who trust in lies

Will fan the rampant flame.

But secret flows the whispering brook

Determined, to the sea.

And when my dreams like clouds have fled

My will returns to thee.

Joe Morriss

 22nd September 2014

Innocence

Lord when my image crumbles
You reveal the truth
Lord when I feel frightened
You give me peace of mind.
Lord when others threaten me
You show me how to forgive
Lord your love endures through all things.

Your truth is light for my life
I have made mistakes Lord
But you've shown me the right way to live

I look up to you
Please help me be me 
Among a world of misunderstanding.

Joe Morriss

1998

Loss

Lord I have suffered a loss
Teach me how to live with that loss

Don't turn it into gain
Don't explain it away
Don't find a purpose in it
Don't tell me to get over it
Don't just be silent

Just tell me how to live
In the face of death

It's too late to say "Goodbye"
Too deep for formal farewells
Too personal for theory
And too painful to conceptualize

I can't let go!
I want to include him even though he's dead
I want to see his face
Hear his voice
My life is incomplete without his touch.

Joe Morriss

Why?

My heart
Torn by a God who loves
Surely not true?
A God of love surrounding me
Surely you do?

Powerful Creator, Majestic Lord!
Then why so much pain?
If you wanted to show your love
You could have changed things
Could have intervened.

Instead of rushing to my aid when it's all over,
Too late.
But is that it
The end?

Do you allow death
As freely as you allow life?
And those who are left
Must learn to survive.

Joe Morriss

Jan 2004

Milestones

Everybody has to start somewhere
At birth
The beginning of everything
Thrust out of the nest
Into this world's mess
Left helpless and begging.

Then comes the growing
Perpetual state of watching and learning
Each new skill and quest
Enjoyed and put to the test
But still a sense of longing and yearning

Long days spent simply living
Age brings change and with it decaying
Nothing new now but labour and task
Every day the same as the last
has anyone been listening to what you've been saying?

But what of the other journey?
The one that starts in crisis
The unfamiliar turning
No longer at the mercy of our own devices.

The young man following his dream
Is as wise as the oldest sage
In that moment of stepping out
A shining star at the dawn of his age

The eyes of the heart are opened
The way ahead is clear
He travels surefooted and unhindered
And free from all that clinging fear

What is a moment of selfless giving
If not the real beginning?
The kindled spark of inspiration
Like a leap of joy at the sound of singing

All that remains is to stay the course
Each step marked by a firm decision
A sacrifice of what could have been yours
Moves you onward toward the vision

And so like milestones along the way
Marking the way to the journey's goal
A choice is made day after day
To follow the new and forget the old.

Joe Morriss

31st July 2010  

Doubting Thomas

Hey Thomas,
Come and join us!
But why are you like that?
We've seen him
Its amazing
He really has come back!
Don't you believe? Doubting Thomas.

Oh Yeah, I believe.
I believe in what I can see;
And I saw him die and I saw him bleed!
You've all seen a ghost, or shared the same dream,
But I just see pain, where love should have been.

Like I said, I believe in what I can see,
And these are the things that make up my reality:

Expanding population, third world debt
Exploitation, high rise isolation
Domestic strife, child labour and prostitution.
Concrete, Cars, litter and pollution
fat politicians and war the only solution.
Neglect, abuse and drug use
Unemployment, kids living off refuse.

These are the wounds that the world has to feel
So unless I can see them, I wont believe that he's real.

Yes Thomas
You're right
I suffered the cross
And just like you felt the pain and the loss
See the marks of rebellion still open and raw
Come touch them and know me
Be doubting no more

My Lord and my God!
You really have come
The world without hope left me cold and so numb

Yes faithful Thomas
You were right to be sad
But now that you've seen me 
Believe and be glad!

Joe Morriss

Easter 2012

Golden Leaves - all hallows eve

These golden leaves
On all the trees
Make me wonder
If we'll ever see
The Kingdom come
And then we'll run
With golden crowns into the sun.

The gentle breeze
That stirs those leaves
Soothes my mind and memories
Of things we've done
And all the fun
We had while tales around us spun

This is the eve
Of Saints' reprieve
Before their bright eternity
All pain has gone
With God the son
As Christ the risen saviour comes.

Joe Morriss

30th October 2011

Harvest of Souls

A field before me

Bright and gold

A harvest of souls

Rolling pasture

Number untold

My heart yearns to reach out

Reap the trust of these ones

Lost and hurting

But where to begin?

Stop them in the street

Under duress

Hard pressed

To tell them of this love within?

And by the field

Are two trees

One is barren

The other has leaves

Mistakes of the past

Over which one grieves

The other's blossom is a promise

Of continuing life and fruit to come

This is faith

Which can be believed upon.

Back in the yield

Poppies adorn the field

Scarlet and bright

Scars from the fight

But blood is thicker than water

And here is a deeper red flower

It speaks of a death

Of love, of power

A love for the lost

Counting the cost

Reaching and restoring.

And so my harvest is not great

One man in a million

I try, I cry, but it's getting late

What can I do but gather?

Fill both my hands

Hold what I can

And keep holding...  

Joe Morriss

August 2006

Red - Brown Wings

Master of the winds

With red-brown wingspan grand

And keen eye fixed on field and furrow

Iconic figure of the wild and far reaching land

The Kite soars above mountain and plain

With careless abandon he makes a tour of the horizon

For a moment he is down among the hedgerows

Then, at a glance, rises aloft again.

Down here, at the foot of the hills

On the tawny heath

Amidst scrubby heather and the long grasses

A smaller creature is picked out in minute detail

Also with red-brown wings

The meadow butterfly

Tiny and tossed by the breeze

But no less a pilot

Navigating her carefree way across the scudded moor

Playfully she dances along the travelers' track 

And vainly keeps up her silent score.

In amongst the trees now,

Ancient Oak and spreading Beech

Under shafts of gold and early summer's vibrant green

A woodland stream

Makes its way downhill

Bubbling between the fern-banks like a cheerful child

There upon a mossy branch

Sits the Chaffinch, in his red-brown coat

Not in a hurry but at a glance

Takes in the peaceful scene

From his well-visited vantage post.

I may not reach the lofty height

Home of the majestic Kite

Wheeling in the empty sky

Nor am I a butterfly.

But I would chose the peaceful glade

A realm of quietness and shade

The refuge of the common bird

Where his still small voice can yet be heard.

Joe Morriss

June 2008

The Lone Gull's Cry

The thundering sea

Cold cascading foam in tormented torrents

Runs in rivulets across jagged stone features

Grey granite edge

Dark dripping and forbidding

The cliff's jaw juts out in protest

Defiant and unforgiving

native birds around it cry

Wheeling and calling plaintively

To the barren sky

And in return from the rocks below

...No reply.

Timeless, the chafing tides

have coursed against this stubborn earth

Surging waves come relentlessly pounding in

Engulfing gullies with their crashing surf.

The sucking swell explores every rent and chasm

And retreats only to return in force

The sea pours in, satisfied that nothing is left unknown

Of this forsaken rocky facade

"Why me god?"

Why the jagged edge, the icy spray?

Why this remote and empty

Wind scoured bay?

The only answer to my cry for reprieve

Comes from a watery sky above the heath

....The lone Gull's cry.

Forlorn of flower or friendly face

"Why have you brought me to such a desolate place?"

The edge of the world

This shattered crust

Like the soul of a man

From whom love is thrust

Hard, unyielding, edged by stone

It stands against the ocean,

Vast, bleak and alone.

Joe Morriss

December 2008

Lazarus

Taken from the story of Lazarus in The Bible, Gospel of John, Chapter 11

If you'd have been here Lord

If you'd have been here...

Why did you take so long?

I wanted to believe Lord

I wanted to believe...

But now it's too late and he's gone!

But if you'd have been here Lord

If you'd have been here...

There wouldn't be no need to die

We used to be strong Lord

We used to be strong...

But now we just lay down and cry.

But why do weep Lord?

Why do you weep?

Do you want us to show you the way?

Come share in our tears Lord, yes

Share in our tears

We'll show you the place where he lays.

In quietness and trust

Our Lord rested his head

While the grief and the mourning went on;

Then the one we had lost

Came back from the dead,

With only a word from his tongue!

We just couldn't see Lord,

We just couldn't see...

When our hearts were just so full of grief.

But you've opened our eyes Lord,

You've opened our eyes...

And in the glory of God,

We believe!

Joe Morriss

2nd June 2014