Monthly Archives: November 2020

The ‘Flu Jab 2020

The ‘Flu Jab [2020 Version]

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Don’t you just love it – this time of year?
That NHS reminder that can fill you with fear
It’s time once again to do as directed
And make sure from ‘flu you are fully protected

Not everyone receives this summons from high
But it applies to me – I admit with a sigh
The vaccine comes to us completely free
So take it manfully and don’t try to flee

If you are over the age of sixty-five
They will have checked your name in their archive
Or you are a pregnant lady, or overweight
It’s most unlikely that you can escape

If your immune system is somewhat suspect
They will be even keener your arm to inject
And if around the waist there is too much flab
They will puncture it all with the bold ‘flu jab

Of course we should not complain of this annual ritual
Intended to ensure that we remain fitter
And withstand the dangers of those nasty bugs
That seem to behave like micro-sized thugs

But this year jabs are so much more significant
In a world engulfed by the pandemic malificent
It’s not the ‘flu jab that is our  greatest desire
But the Covid vaccine that we all require

So when the message arrives to make the appointment
Make sure the nurse receives no disappointment
Get along to the surgery and bare your best arm
It will do you much good and surely no harm

Ken Fisher

These Faithful Eyes – by Oliver Fisher

These Faithful Eyes by Oliver Fisher
[A reflection on Faith]

These Faithful Eyes

There’s light inside your old stone furnace. To feel and think and pray and see.
To learn and hope and live in earnest. I am him as he is me.
My self composed upon those values. Accept these praises from my heart.
Though I may be struck with poisoned arrows. My skin is left without a mark.
My palms connect, My head is bowed. Ascending gently towards your light.
Our words and thoughts, our bond is loud. Humbly, happily blinded by sight.
My power and reason, please guide me still. And keep these weary wanderers safe.
I may grow old and tired and ill. But I can’t be broken if I’m made of faith.
My sins and wrongs have fuelled devotion. For you I can, I will be true. 
Though many are called, few are chosen. For they are scared to come to you.
And in the end you shall decide.  Will I fall or will we rise?
My soul is weighed, I can not hide. It’s time to judge these ‘faithful’ eyes.

– Oliver Fisher

Gotcha

Gotcha

That gotcha moment
When the radio host triumphantly
Traps a politician
By trawling up a quote where
He has now completely contradicted
His earlier recorded claims

That gotcha moment
When exaggerated advertising promises
About some wonder product
Or miracle cure
Are exposed as snake oil
A mere puff
By investigative journalism

That gotcha moment
When a two-timing husband
Comes out of a pub with his paramour
And unexpectedly bumps into
His daughter in the street
As she is returning from
The Brownies

That gotcha moment
When Amazon delivers
That awaited package to us
Which turns out to be
A cheap trinket
And not the anticipated
Wonder gizmo

That gotcha moment
When the press lifts the lid
On some long running scandal
Or conspiracy against the public
Which a heretofore pillar of society
Has perpetrated

Those gotcha moments
Facilitated by modern technology
Through the use of mobile data
Phone call history and activity
Monitoring.
Switch off to remain invisible!

But – perhaps the best gotcha moment
Is when it tumbles to us that there are times
When such an exposure of our own life
Might not easily withstand scrutiny
So others might think of us that this is
Their gotcha moment!

Ken Fisher

Walking the Dog – By Oliver Fisher

Walking The Dog

Her shaky hands grip  my lead and I can sense her nervous need.
I bark, but she is distracted. Hood up, eyes forward.
My owner reaches in her pocket and frantically opens one of her boxes.
Those black boxes control her actions and the white paper cylinders keep her distracted.
She does not look even though I bark. Hood up, eyes forward. She is blind.
I wonder, would she still take me out. In the rain and wind and snow.
If her need was not quite so
It seems as though she can not go an hour or so without that antidote.
I stare at my owner, it’s painful to watch and I do not understand
I bark again and this time she stops. She knows she should.
‘Run’ she says, but she’s been running too.
Click, click. It breaks me. It fixes her.
She drags, drags and drags again. My lead is short now, yet still she drags.
And once the ember finally dies and her hands stop shaking I see in her eyes.
My owner’s at ease once again. Until the next time I need walking.

Oliver Fisher

 

It’s Okay not to be Okay

It’s Okay not to be Okay

When the world expects to see you grin
And inside you are feeling grim
Remember there’s no obligation
That you must help to lift the nation

Even when others are on a high
And all you can do is simply sigh
You must be honest every day
It’s Okay not to be Okay

When we no longer can be  hearty
The life and soul of any party
It’s time for truth to be expressed
When sadly we just feel depressed

Too oft we think we must perform
Hold on to the expected norm
Our emoji must not frown
No-one wants us to be down

Why should we be so guilt ridden?
Darker moods from all be hidden
Simply ‘cause it won’t appeal
To be honest how we feel

So let toleration be expanded
As of our emotions we are candid
If right now we’re far from Okay
It is Okay for us to say

Ken Fisher

Remembrance 2020

Remembrance 2020

[Posted on Remembrance Sunday 2020
in an anxious yet hopeful world
facing huge challenges of political uncertainty,
threats from a global pandemic and climate change]

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Today is a time for remembering
Thinking back to those dark days of war
When life was uncertain for all
And for some, death was an imminent prospect

But few living today have much memory
Of the years of conflict when hostilities raged
And although warfare still encircles the world
Our experience of it is mediated by TV images

And yet we have an uncomfortable feeling
That despite efforts to unite the nations
There is a persistent climate of arm-wrestling
Between the great powers who eyeball each other

The Cold War brought with it the four-minute-warning
Not long to compose our minds for oblivion!
But presently, although we hope our future might stretch for decades,
We cannot quite eliminate the nagging uncertainty for our destiny

However, for today, we give thanks
For all those who bought our freedom
And pledge to strive to maintain
Such fragile peace as we possess

Ken Fisher