Author Archives: thebardofkelvindale.com

Self-Congratulations

Self-Congratulations

Forgive me today if I succumb to temptation
And indulge in some self-congratulation
For today the overall total of visitors to my site
Reached 2,000 – for me a highlight

So to all of you out there who gave me chance
My poetic aspirations to slowly advance
I offer my thanks for your fortitude
And my heart felt gratitude

As you can see from the recorded statistics
Since starting this blog I have been persistent
Over 10,000 visits to the site have been made
As my simple rhymes I have boldly displayed

I never made any claim to special insights
But tried to reflect life’s triumphs and plights
And in plain language my views to express
Not seeking to elate you or cause any distress

I hope that you might yet wish to explore
The range of my work to be found in this store
And if perhaps I have brought you some pleasure
That will for me be reward beyond measure

Ken Fisher

The Bard of Kelvindale

June 2018

 

Summer Solstice 2018

Summer Solstice 2018

A glimpse of sunshine warms our heart
Flowers and leaves reflect the light
The gentle rays caress our brow
Our lips widen with a smile

For now the daytime stretches out
Filling each hour with gentle light
Dark days of winter long forgot
We rejoice in life outdoors

From this ‘crows nest’ of the year
We scan the horizon fore and aft
Behind, long hours of winter gloom
Then spring pregnant with promise

Ahead the prospect of summer warmth
And autumn’s gold and russet tints
But winter’s spectre lurks beyond
Vaguely threatening summer’s calm

Ken Fisher

Your Friendly Bean Counters!

Your Friendly Bean Counters

[A tribute to BN Associates – small accountancy Firm of the Year 2018]

 

Some claim that accountancy is really boring
And the subject is simply not worth exploring
But I would reject this view superficial
‘Cause accounting for business is most beneficial

Accounting can outline the state of our wealth
And strong cash flow is vital for health
If we find ourselves too deep in debt
Our creditors become a serious threat

So by keeping track of such vital numbers
Monetary issues should never encumber
And accurate accounting will show us the way
To monitor the business each working day

Enough of the system, it’s people that matter
And I don’t intend to unduly flatter
But I know of a squad who deserve all our praise
As they help their clients in so many ways

So today I offer warmest congratulations
To a firm now peerless within our great nation
So raise your glasses to Brett, David and team
As they tick every box and count every bean!

Ken Fisher
The Bard of Kelvindale

A Broader Mind?

A Broader Mind?

Mark Twain wrote: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

 

Having just returned from a mini version of the Grand Tour
Travelling by train and coach and occasionally by boat
Through parts of northern Europe with much allure
New vistas are to a parochial view a strong antidote

In the passage through towns and cities unfamiliar
Observing the lives of others lived out in far-flung places
Noting phenomena sometimes appearing quite peculiar
We see likenesses and differences in peoples’ faces

The architecture of Churches, civic buildings and habitations
Demonstrate patterns developed over historic time-scales
Piazzas, market squares, and hostelries distinctive of each nation
And many structures reflect the ideology which there prevails

But perhaps it is in meeting with the denizens of each location
That we may challenge our thinking and our attitudes
If only we could overcome our linguistic limitations
We can break the bonds of our insular solitude

And no matter that our sojourn in unfamiliar lands
Is bound to be limited ‘less time and distance be reconciled
There can be little doubt that our horizons will expand
Prejudice is challenged as by foreign lands we are beguiled

Ken Fisher

The Swiss Army Knife – Even More Useful

The Swiss Army Knife – Even More Useful

[This is a sequel to my previous poem – The Swiss Army Knife-
Published Jan 24, 2017]

The Swiss Army Knife is quite cutting edge
No limit to the uses to which it can stretch
This latest model has pen and shining flashlight
Features which surely will bring much delight

I crossed the boundaries of this innovative nation
Whose mechanical products deserve admiration
Their fame is well known for watches and clocks
But my joy is the penknives of Victorinox

Imagine my delight when I discovered a store
Whose shelves were laden with penknives galore
Some were enormous with unlimited functions
To deal with every problem or tricky malfunction

But my preference is for the smaller device
Not only because of its more reasonable price
So the one that I chose to add to my collection
A multi-tool, a pen, and a light, all which act with perfection

Ken Fisher

Forgiveness is the Threshold to Healing

Forgiveness is the Threshold to Healing

 

When we are stung by someone’s sharp rebuke
Their piercing words however unintended
The thoughtless gibe, unthinking sneer
That leaves our very soul offended

When those around apparently conspire
To thwart all our plans, our hopes and ambitions
How can be bring ourselves to readily forgive?
When our undoing seems the object of their mission

When in life we suffer losses and misfortune
Caused by others’ wanton actions or omissions
How can we cast aside our pain and resentment?
Absorbing all in self-deprecating submission

Of course we must attempt to stand up to the storms
And positively respond when confronted by adversity
Yet if our reaction is to meet challenge with aggression
Would not that alone simply be mean travesty?

We must find a better way to assuage our hurt
Not living out our days in pique and bitterness
But setting aside all past pain and suffering
Traverse the threshold of healing through forgiveness

Ken Fisher

Thought

Thought

Not animal, vegetable, or mineral
Sometimes fact, fiction or myth
As illusive as quicksilver
Unlike solid, liquid or gas

Who can define thought?
Or measure its power
To delight or scare or anger
An alchemy of energy

Would we be rid of this tyranny?
Which dominates our mind
Determines our deeds
And destroys our peace

Thought, intangible and unreal
Initiator of action from idea
By which we make a kirk or mill
From every brooding notion

And yet the delight of thought
The joy of inner anticipation
Treasured memories of happier days
All realized within that inward eye

Let’s rejoice in all that thought begets
In quiet contemplation or mental gymnastics
Find solace, peace, or ready stimulation
A memory bank and spur to this day’s living

Ken Fisher

 

GDPR

GDPR

The latest challenge to face our British nation
Is the General Data Protection Regulation
Now we must comply with detailed rules
To help us, some guidelines are useful tools

Curiously it is Europe who commands we comply
And Brexit appears to offer no alibi
In the UK the Information Commission
Demands our complete and ready submission

It would appear all these changes come in the wake
Of frequent liberties that intruders may take
With our personal data which we let others hold
As in on-line processing we have entered so bold

Big Data is the feature that might fill us with fear
As facts known about us break every frontier
Thus personal data ascends to the cloud
And lands where we surely would not have allowed

So all these new rules have been devised
To ensure of our data use we keep appraised
Above all, our privacy must be secured
And of that fact let us all be assured

Businesses, charities and all kinds of organisation
Will find they must meet their new obligation
To ensure that they comply with GDPR
Whose ramifications stretch both wide and far

One aspect of GDPR that surely will scare
Are the punishments if firms seem not to care
And it’s best that all submit to the ICO Regulator
Who is the ulitimate judge and arbitrator

So I hope all goes well in data protection
And miscreants will soon suffer detection
But don’t let all your links to others be lost
A price we may think is too high a cost

Ken Fisher

Cactus

Cactus

I don’t know what you think of these prickly plants
Their spines or spikes are seen at first glance
Their stems have chambers to help them conserve
The water they need, their life to preserve

Originally most cacti grew in dry habitats
Where all other plant life would simply collapse
And their thorny exterior would soon scare away
Any desert snake that might chance come their way

Cactus plants come in every shape and size
The number of species is quite a surprise
They don’t have conventional leaves as such
But some do have flowers, but you better not touch

Some cacti are tall, pointing up to the sky
Others quite low and shaped like a pie
Some are multi-coloured, some monochrome
Some, like a temple complete with a dome

There are tiny cactus plants ever so small
And others whose height is really quite tall
Some seem to have large internal tanks
Holding water like our saved money in banks

Anyway whatever you think of these succulents
Many  aficionados appraise their excellence
As decorations arranged in a classic display
Which can easily compete with a floral bouquet

Ken Fisher

Thank You for Your 10,000 Visits

Thank You for Your 10,000 Visits

Ten thousand ‘hits” is my reward
Ten thousand clicks my site explored
The oeuvre on the web dispersed
My views in simple verse expressed

Thoughts meant to stimulate the mind
Not politically aligned
Nor to any genre restricted
Or to unruly passion addicted

Statistics helpfully inform
That from this blogging platform
Visitors from all the world around
So many poems they have found

I hope the pictures have enhanced
As my regular offerings advanced
It’s not my intention to advertise
Just amuse, perhaps surprise

In these poems I encapsulate
A thought that could evaporate
And thus preserve its very essence
Before it sinks to obsolescence

Often set down in simple rhymes
Frequently in styles of various kinds
Of ways in which words to present
Your understanding to augment

These poems are not a bold campaign
No propaganda will on you rain
But rather some gentle musings
Perhaps novel, even amusing

Thanks many hundreds who came to visit
By exercising the clicking digit
I hope reward has come your way
My own pleasure I won’t gainsay

If you have had even momentary pleasure
It would please me quite beyond measure
That on your friends you might just prevail
To proclaim of The Bard Of Kelvindale!

Ken Fisher

THE BARD OF KELVINDALE

 

Sunshine’s Kiss – Summer 2018

Sunshine’s Kiss

Sunshine’s Kiss is

Gentle on our faces

Basking in its slanting rays

Tree lined arches project

Dappled patterns

On the pathways

The wind is hushed

Replaced by buzzing bees

Marauding in bright flower heads

A dragonfly takes a momentary rest

A world of warmth and peace

Caressed by our loving star

Ken Fisher

Dragonfly