Summer

Sultry Summer sun
What secrets you must hide
Basking and complete
in your bright, hot sky

The day has been long
From first light to noontide
But now you wear your hazy-halo lazily
Dazzling like a gold coin
On dusk's deep blue velvet

The morning was like a glass
Turned to catch and mirror your flashing glance
The cold air
Soon dried by your relentless glare

All across the field
The green grass withers at your stare
Burnt stalks tinder dry
fading fast in the furnace heat

Hard worked for riches and all man's toil
Is lost in a dry and crusty soil
But here also stands a tree
Heavily verdant and full bodied
Its leafy boughs weighed down with promise
Laden with welcome shade

O crown of the seasons
Though short lived
Your reign is full of power
You ride out like a victor in his finest hour

Across heaven's vault
Golden orb in your hand
Purging and scouring
With your righteous brand.

Joe Morriss

2007

Just 17

He's a chip off the old block
But he's not.
He's really gonna be somethin'
And nothin'.
He's laid back and doesn't care
He's got no place to go
But he's in a hurry to get there.
He's 17

Just 17
A world away from childhood
But still too tender for adult reality
Full of individual passion
But hopelessly stereotyped by fashion

"Future" is another 4 letter word
Spelled wrong
You can't eat it, smoke it or find it on Facebook
It doesn't belong
In a pub or a club
Or in the park with your mates
But maybe if you bought a drink for that gorgeous blonde?

17, and going strong
I need me Mum!
What went wrong?
Dumped, jumped, stumped
No money left
Just a hangover.

Me, a homeboy?
I'm nobody's boy!
Grown man or just a clown?
How do you get a job you've never done
Me Dad's not even got one
But I'm not me Dad...
Yet.

Give me a job someone
Trust me, it's just me
I'm only 17 and a bit of a one
You see I need cash and experience more
But I just aint done nothin' useful before.

She's just 17
But acts like she's still 13
Co that's the age she decided
That her life was her own
And decided to take it.

Oh sure, a lot of her friends would fake it
You see, the pills and whisky were risky
But there was no other way to make people listen

She was determined to have it
The baby I mean, no maybe about it.
But who's gonna love her, hold her, rock her?
Not the Father, Im afraid
He's in Jail cos he failed.

So get rid of it
That's the ultimatum
have the termination
Cold chair, no one knows she's there.
Just the nurses and the folks at home
With their righteous curses

She's just 17
For Christ's sake
We really need to care.

Joe Morriss

2008

Prison Psalm

Lord my enemies surround me
They shout at me from behind bars
They make a noise and throw things about
Lord confound their taunts
Silence their threats
Lord I pray
Please convict them in their rage.

Lord you prove me innocent of crimes against them
Uphold my cause!
Free me from the burning of shame and wrath
Lord please make my skies clear
And my nights peaceful

Amen.

Joe Morriss

2.10.1998

I Remember - A rural rant!

I remember when all this was fields,
You could see for miles
With not a soul in sight
The lane ended in a welcome meadow
With a pond that held all kinds of delight.

The cows roamed and chewed the cud
And the trusting Lark made her nest on the ground
And all around
Not a sound.

Save that of the distant bleating
Of sheep and quiet birds nesting
And chirping in the hedgerow.

For far, far away then was the road
The highway of man
And his planners, plotters and schemers all
First bikes then cars
Then screaming jets and choppers

Far from the quiet countryside
But ever nearer it came
With its huge crawling machines
Spitting out soil and root and turf
The men of spoil
Tearing and churning up the earth.

You didn't see the carefully hidden vole
Or delicate anemone
To the fox and the badger
No friend but and enemy.

So you built your road
And then tore along it
Caring not about the carnage to the wildlife
Your great highway to the high life
Pound signs before your eyes
Blotting out all signs of life

I remember when all this was fields
You could see from one hilltop to the next
No motorway or dual carriageway
Or hideous factory units
Waiting to be let

Now there's your road
Your stinking dusty road
Belching out fumes
And filth and tar
Dirtying hedgerows
With your brand-new cars

Gone, its all gone
The picture book walk by the brook
With blackberry, rose and birdsong
And the smell of fresh mown hay.

All we have left is houses
Ribbon development
Finger development
A finger in every damn pie
And every stinking lie
Has just led to rot and decay

I remember when all this was fields...

Joe Morriss

Harpole 24th January 2011

A Little While

I held my mother's hand and cried
"How long?" I asked
She turned and smiled
"A little while" is what she said
"then it's home and off to bed..."

I held the martyr's hand and cried
"How long?" I asked
He turned and sighed
"A little while" is what he said
"His body was broken, his blood was shed..."

"How Long?" you ask
Is life's long day
So full of hurt and shame and dismay
"A little while" Is what Jesus said
"Till I judge the living and the dead."

Joe Morriss

2010