A Mother's touch

Beneath the morning grey she bends
Within her clasped hands coloured flowers
Whilst as the mourning grave she tends
And whiles away a lonely hour.

Her son, the grown man
No longer sees
What looking up she sees of him,
As sun falls through the autumn leaves
And the homely Robin sings his hymn.

A violet bunch of varied stems
Heather, Vetch and Tare
her aged fingers parting them
And placing each with care.

Each year remembered
This stony bed
A fragrant beauty feels
As life long ended rests its head
Where a mother's touch has healed.


Joe Morriss
October 5th 2014

Skin to Skin

"Skin to Skin"
Bonded from the beginning
Your first cry
Your mothers tears dried
My Son

Blood red
Angry Clashes
Angst and anguish
The door slams
You leave
We grieve

Yea tho I walk through the valley of shadow,
How I wish I had spared the rod
Your road is long and winding
My eyes are wet with crying

Skin to Skin
To hold you close again
Beyond the rugged cross
All will be alright

Joyful reunion
An open door
Ring and Robe
Firstborn of many brothers.

Come home tonight.

Joe Morriss

9th September 2014

Through the open window

The airplane drones sleepily overhead, and
With it you awake to the day.
Through the open window
Morning breathes her first breath
Silver brightness tinged with golden ray

See them playing in the garden
Hear their happy laughter as they pass
The same endless day, 
Year after year
When the lark sings
And you walk through the long meadow grass.

Moments like these are like a window
You can almost see through it to times gone by
Back to every summer you remember
Childhood at it's zenith
And framed in the window
The bright blue sky.

Joe Morriss

24th May 2010

Friendship

I just want to reach out to you
To connect
I'm fed up of being on the other side of the street
I wanna be the same as you
Your friend

Enjoy the things you enjoy
Do the things you do
Have the same mind
The same attitude
Share a good time together

But I haven't experienced what you have
Mum and Dad not at home
Arguing, violent when they are
Bad crowd, breaking things, stealing
Don't care if you're caught

Crammed in together
Council estate
Unwashed, uncared for
Broken, dirty toys
No love

I want to reach out to you
But I'm afraid that you resent me
Might hurt me.

Good boy
Clean hair
Tidy manners, polite
Well spoken, well read, well looked after
Interested family, Inheritance, education
Gentle hands

So what have we got in common?
Don't want to dig up the dirt
Drain the dregs
I just want to reach out to you
For us to feel safe together

We both need a friend
Both you and me
And if it's not each other then who's it gonna be?
Who'll settle our differences, make us free?
If there was something I could give you
Something you'd really want and need
Not second hand wealth
Not just shared greed.

Do you know Jesus?
He loves and he cares
He don't put on airs
I'll share him with you
He's everyone's friend
there's nothing broken that he can't mend.

Joe Morriss

July 2005

Father

Oh wonderful Father!
How grateful I am for you...

I too have found in my eyes
The tears you now cry

I didn't teach you those tears
Nor you, I

It confirms that we are of one spirit
That part of me I have discovered
Is real and valid

Because there are you,
Weeping too.

Oh dear man
Broken and crying

If only you knew how much that means,
If only you knew how much I love you.

Dear father.

Joe Morriss

March 2005

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