Clocks Go Back 2022

Clocks Go Back Oct 2022

 

The days are getting shorter, the nights are drawing in
In no time at all we will arrive at Halloween
Darkness is descending, as we struggle through the gloom
Look out for the guisers draped in their costume

‘Ere we reach that ‘hallowed’ eve the clocks must be turned back
Between Saturday and Sunday an hour they give us back
For last Spring those same clocks were moved an hour forward
To rectify that change now the movement will be rearward

This year we’ve been distracted by extensive politicking
Let’s hope that none of this has stopped our clocks from ticking
Although the shadows lengthen we hope not so our mood
A new regime in Crown and Government may yet still do us good

The cost of living spirals and interest rates too high
Not easy to accept all this with a resignation sigh
But let’s not in the gloom get overly depressed
Why not pretend the future promises the best!

As of Autumn tints and falling leaves we are made aware
Perhaps the commanders of the nations will ensure they all play fair
In their deliberations may they reach a just solution
To tackle rising tides, melting ice, and poisonous pollution

So as now nights darken may we accept the changing of the light
Brighter in the morning, then earlier dark at night
Nothing’s really changed, it’s ourselves who’ve played a trick
Tinkering with the clock hands but letting it still tick

So with the changing of the hour we revert to Greenwich Mean
British Summer Time left behind till Spring’s green shoots are seen
But at least we know now where we are, the timing quite official
No fiddling with the hours of day or night, no changes artificial

Ken Fisher

 

Conversation

Conversation

Dr Johnson says “the happiest conversation involves
no competition, no vanity, but a calm, quiet, interchange
of sentiments”

 

It is sometimes said that we have
lost the art of conversation
Our verbal interchanges more a matter
Of unbridled confrontation

Perhaps we listen too much
To the strident politicians
Who never give in or show
Any sign of due contrition

Conversation sometimes becomes
A battle ground
A shouting match, a stair-head brawl
Where every reasoned voice is drowned

Would that we could just
Listen to each other
Hear what is being said
New information gather

Give each due time
To state their point of view
Note the detail
Thus learn something new

Pause for breath, we need not
Be quite so abrupt
Hear the other side
Avoid the constant interrupt

Thus our tete-a-tetes
Will yield much pleasure
If in our discourse
The pace we duly measure

Ken Fisher

 

 

 

 

Beeb Centenary

Beeb Centenary

Congratulations to our companion
Purveyor of news and diverse opinion
The BBC has reached its centenary
Throughout each age remained contemporary

Harnessing each new development
From crystal set to internet
The beeb’s output embraced the world
Its transmissions like flags unfurled

From Reithian sobriety
To music and variety
In programmes thus our tastes reflected
No part of culture e’er neglected

To educate, inform and entertain
Its mission e’er remained the same
So much a part of daily life
Through peaceful years and times of strife

Despite the fact of great prestige
In modern times more under siege
Who want’s to pay a licence fee
When the airwaves may come free?

The Beeb is somehow like no other
From Strictly back to Watch with Mother
Endless output from the archives
Broadcasts woven through all our lives

Congratulations to this mighty institution
There is no ready substitution
We wish it well in years ahead
That its broadcast waves may still be spread

Ken Fisher

 

See Also: Radio The Listender’s Window on the World

The Night Time Broadcast

 

Curiosity

Curiosity

Curiosity killed the cat
We often have been told
Perhaps pussy would have survived
It she hadn’t been so bold

But cats are not the only beasts
Anxious to know more
Humans also have the need
New ideas to explore

Our nosiness we can’t resist
We have a great desire
To solve the mysteries of life
Our senses all conspire

It’s said that science relies
On enquiry and experiment
If these techniques were not applied
It would be to society’s detriment

The spirit of enquiry begins at birth
From infancy it progresses
Through walking, talking, asking
New challenges it addresses

Curiosity prompts us to seek out
The when, the why, what for?
No matter what the puzzle is
We want to know the score

Curiosity may have killed the cat
But for us, the driving force
Before nine lives are duly lost
New knowledge we’ll endorse

Ken Fisher

See also this poem about questions and questioning:  Now You’re Asking

Mind the Gap

Mind the Gap

 

Mind the Gap we’re duly warned
Lest we fall and thus are harmed
But for other gaps we need watch out
Must take care when we’re about

A gap’s a space between two things
Its existence concern brings
We might trip up or come a cropper
Or fail to do what would be proper

But gaps occur at other times and places
It depends upon the different cases
A gap year in our education
Excuse for unjustified vacation

A gap in our employment record
Perhaps difficult to afford
Sometimes viewed with suspicion
When we seek a new position

A gap might just be an interlude
A mother bringing up her brood
Or perhaps a choice just to escape
Our life’s trajectory reshape

Perhaps we all deserve a gap, a breather
Respite from work, enjoy good weather
A four-day working week is now in favour
Let us all that freedom savour

Whether your longed-for gap is an intermission
Some danger needing recognition
Or some other snag or trap
It’s always best to Mind the Gap!

Ken Fisher

 

In Praise of Poetry – 2022

In Praise of Poetry
In celebration of National Poetry Day 6 October 2022

From bard of old to modern scribe
Folks from their clan or ancient tribe
Set down their thoughts on love and life
Of peaceful days or times of strife

Primitive symbols on cave walls
Or ancient tomes kept in great halls
Retold their tales of days of yore
Of battles, feuds, and much spilled gore

Throughout the history of their land
In metropolis or island strand
In each succeeding generation
Poets voice the thoughts of every nation

As they recount in verse and rhyme
Acts heroic in their time
Myths and sagas thus survive
And old traditions kept alive

Poetry upholds a nation’s pride
Expresses feelings deep and wide
That tell of our own situation
Our joys, our hopes, and life’s frustrations

And in the words of rhyme and prose
The poet seeks to thus compose
A tale that touches deep the heart
Reflecting life like every art

But in that special written form
A poetic voice can thus transform
Emoted by some word or phrase
We shed a tear or shout in praise

Ken Fisher

Now You’re Asking

Now You’re Asking
Questions, Questions, Endless Questions!

From infant days to venerable age
Life emulates a question mark
Who can explain, or justify
Or change our view to light from dark?

The tiny tot who’s learned to talk
Asks Why? perpetually
Won’t be turned off till we explain
Our answer truthfully

Throughout our schooling
Endless questions tax our brain
Knowledge ranges far and wide
From common to arcane

Then as we progress to learning
Of an even higher order
Questions turning more obscure
Might our peace disorder

In the world of work
Questions never ending
What choice to make, what problem solve?
Dilemmas never-ending

In social life we can’t escape
The questions that arise
To wed or not, or fly solo
With whom to fraternize

And so it goes, throughout our life
With questions we’re lambasted
In politics, religion, science or art
We can be flabbergasted!

Questions can sometimes be used
As  weapons against others
Journalists, lawyers, inquisitors, even
To their offending offspring, by their mother

It appears that none of us
Can dodge being interrogated
To supply the answers each of us
Feels duly obligated

So there we are throughout our life
We respond “now you’re asking”
When confronted by a tough query
Our ignorance we are masking

Ken Fisher