Author Archives: thebardofkelvindale.com

Hospital Admission

Hospital Admission

The impending date brings apprehension
When confronted with the need for action
The pre-op procedure does little to ease the tension
Measurements a mere distraction

Checking the patient’s current state of health
Blood pressure, sugars, pulse, circulation
Many numbers but fortunately not our wealth
The costs met by the citizens of our nation

The doctor checks our respiration
ECG, Xrays and scans as needed
Earnestly seeking any indication
Of a defect so far unheeded

What are these tests meant to prevent?
Medics incurring culpability?
Misadventure to the patient who has given consent
Surely for both, reduced unpredictability

Ken Fisher

Comfort Blanket

Comfort Blanket

 

There are times in life when we are in need of comfort
Our usual confident façade’s begun to crumble
Events have conspired our mind to disconcert
The honest truth our earnest heart would humble

For long enough on this life’s roller coaster
Our tight grip on the reins stayed strong
Of past achievement quite a boaster
Surely such success bound to last long

Suddenly it hits you that you’ve lost invulnerability
No longer safe beneath a protective shield
The unexpected challenge to health or ability
The loss of that long expected bield

It’s then when the comfort blanket brings consolation
Unable to remove the existential threat
Yet to the troubled mind brings compensation
Our worst nightmares we might yet forget

Your blanket may be of many different fibres
Even blended colours might somehow soothe
Our ideas, thoughts, or faith diverse
Conspire their calming balm your furrowed brow to smooth

Ken Fisher

Advent Calendar Makeover 2022

Advent Calendar Makeover 2022

Have you noticed how the Advent Calendar
Has evolved?
Less traditional ‘nativity’
Now involved

Gone are the shepherds
And the sheep
Of the Wise Men
Not a peep

Mary & Joseph gone A W A L
Baby Jesus escaped the stall
Even that twinkling star
No longer seen afar

The modern calendar you will discover
Given a radical makeover
Bethlehem now rarely features
Behind the doors quite different creatures

Each day your taste buds stimulated
Your sweet longings thus are sated
Miniature morsels in confection
Cheeses wrapped into perfection

Jewelled trinkets for the rich
Despite the cost, seem rather kitsch
Wine and spirits for the tippler
Mini biros for the scribbler

For those concerned about their looks
Opening doors in tenterhooks
May find something quite prosthetic
Amidst offerings cosmetic

And so on it goes, those daily treats
From micro gifts to tasty sweets
Until at last on Christmas day
We gasp at this endless array

And then we ask
What’s this all about?
Amidst cheap goodies
Don’t shut love out

Ken Fisher

 

 

 

Saint Andrew

Saint Andrew

Today we celebrate the Apostle Saint Andrew
Patron saint of fishermen, Scotland, and Russia
Brother of Simon Peter, and one of the first to be called
He in turn brought people to Jesus, not least the lad with the loaves and fishes

From Andrew we have an example of willingness to serve others
Today we might say he was a people person
In Scotland he is fondly remembered and his day celebrated
Not merely by nationalists for the saltire cross but by all who would give of themselves for the good of others

Ken Fisher

 

Remembrance 2022

Remembrance 2022

This poem was posted at the same time in earlier years
We hope that this year we might yet remain
optimistic about the future

Today’s 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!
And presently with the continuing conflict in the Ukraine
And other theatres of war in our troubled world
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

Scarcity

Scarcity

 

Scarcity is the beating heart of economics
Economists imagine that humankind
Constantly lives in the purgatory
Between our insatiable demands
And our limited means

From this point of view
All economic activity
Is a battle-ground where
Humans forever compete with each other
To grab their share of the scarce resources

Perhaps there is some truth in this view
As, in the animal kingdom,
Different creatures prey on each other
Not only dog eat dog
But any dominant beast swallows the subservient

But economists also tell us that scarcity
Produces markets, where supply meets demand
Prices are struck at the equilibrium
Seller and buyer are in accord
Satisfaction built on scarcity

Perhaps this is the capitalist ideal
And for the most part it has worked
But what about those with no purchasing power?
What if supply falters through drought or monopoly?
Markets need money to function, what if you are broke?

Scarcity is OK, it can be a great stimulus
But in a world where inequality is rife
Who will take care of the losers?
Must they too simply perish
As casualties in economic warfare?

Abundance is the obverse of scarcity
Like fresh air, of limitless supply
Untreated its economic value sits at zero
Would that the supply of all our needs was abundant
Might universal contentment be the norm?

Ken Fisher

Audi Alteram Partem

Audi Alteram Partem
[Hear the other side]

Audi Alteram Partem is a very worthy maxim
It seeks to keep an open mind thus avoiding bias
In every interview or debate let’s hear the other side
When hard decisions otherwise readily would try us

But one problem I can foresee in granting equal status
To either viewpoint regarding any proposition
Both sides may not have equal merit
Worthy of universal recognition

In courts of law there’s little doubt
To ensure that trials are fair
Prosecution and defence must state their case
With diligence and care

In football we have observed the arrival of VAR
Intended to eliminate a prejudiced decision
Cameras cover many angles of a shot on goal
Ascertain the true position

But perhaps we have stretched the principle too far
When every journalist’s interrogation
Must ensure that ‘for and against’ are aired
Lest there be discrimination

The advocates of any cause, ideal or belief
Will surely stress the merits of that enterprise
Their conviction dominates their view
No hesitation, vacillation, leads them to rationalise

Of course in our democratic nations
We believe in free and open speech
Audi Alteram Partem deserves respect
A noble rule we should not lightly breach

Ken Fisher

 

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