Category Archives: Architecture, Art and Music

Poems relating to architecture, art or music

CityScape

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Glasgow CityScape

 

For some, contentment can only be found
By living out this life in some rural idyll
But while there is no doubting the virtues
Of the countryside with its bucolic blessings
For me the city’s magnetism has much more attraction
Even if some of its denizens may prove less of a boon

 

For while a pastoral existence
May offer peace to troubled souls
Life midst the hills and glens
Is not devoid of trials
The least of which might simply be
Boredom and isolation

 

And yes you can be lonely amidst the teeming city
But near at hand in those crowded streets
Awaits a nostrum for occasional ennui
Surely amidst the panoply of choice
From theatre, to sport, music, faith and learning
We can as easily discover a meaningful existence

 

Ken Fisher

The Post Box

The Post Box

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This familiar cylinder in Pillar Box Red

Like a sentry standing to attention

Its open mouth awaiting to be fed

By words of our own mind’s invention

 

 

I hope we have not missed the post

Our message in that box will languish

Our words of wisdom will be lost

And our hearts be filled with anguish

 

 

But we must not doubt the Royal Mail

Whose reputation is at stake

Surely they will never fail

Their promises they will not break!

 

 

So when we see the bright red pillars

Part of the furniture of our streets

Like lamp posts to us so familiar

Those boxes, letters love to eat

 

Of course you may say that is old hat

Replaced by email’s endless ‘pings’

But letters dropping on the mat

Ensure that from our chair we spring

 

 

So let’s give a cheer for old snail mail

Paper sleeves with stamps or frank

The contents we must then unveil

For this, the postie we must thank

Ken Fisher

 

The Builders

The Builders

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No challenge too great for the building trade
No problem will make these workers afraid
They dig down to make sure of a firm foundation
The earth that they move could re-shape the nation

 

Then they build up many rows of bricks upon brick
With a hod and a trowel they perform this neat trick
They leave spaces for windows and holes for the doors
And layer-by-layer they construct each new floor

 

Inside this stark shell they fit out each room
And soon we discern the shape of a home
If of their achievements we still require proof
Just take a glance at the shiny new roof

 

For their unstinting efforts, we these workers salute
Their dedication and skill is not in dispute
The future homeowner will derive so much pleasure
Thanks to those builders for their willing endeavor
Ken Fisher

Modern Art

Modern Art

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Perhaps it’s just me but I find it hard to make sense

My judgment perhaps should be put into suspense

And it’s easy to dismiss something just because it is new

An idea which so far is only grasped by the few

 

I suppose I am conditioned by what I already know

And my adoption of new concepts remains rather slow

But Modern Art’s history stretches back a long time

And by now we might say it is well in ‘its prime’

 

Apparently its genesis rose from illustrious names

Such as van Gough, Cezanne, Gauguin, all of great fame

Pioneers were Romantics, Realists, Impressionists too

Cubists came next – Leger, Braque, and Picasso to name just a few

 

In following years Modern Art went world-wide

Its influence rather like an incoming tide

Traditional painters may have felt they had drowned

By this indefinable force that brought changes profound

 

But there is no doubt that Modern Art’s here to stay

Its iconic galleries will not fade away

But other art forms remain in our affection

Both old schools and new form treasured collections

Ken Fisher

Elegant West End

Elegant West End

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Tributes to Victorian design

This noble terrace is a sign

Its grand façade in pride displays

The skill and craft of earlier days

 

Local denizens have ensured

These mature buildings still endure

A credit to all who have taken care

Of a legacy beyond compare

 

As generations sought to reserve

This grand inheritance to preserve

And whether there we do reside

Or simply pass along beside

 

To designers, builders and architects

Your contribution we respect

And gladly we would thus acclaim

Your gifts which bring the West End fame

 

 

Ken Fisher

 

 

Upper Glass

Upper Glass

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Glasgow’s challenge to the Crystal Palace!

A reclining lion stretched out across the grass

This vitreous behemoth providing warm sanctuary

To subjects of that great kingdom of all plants

That ranges far and wide across the earth

 

The prime attraction within our Botanic Gardens

This 19th Century wrought iron framed glasshouse

From an earlier life in Coulport on the Clyde

In 1873 the Kibble was re-born in our dear city

With yet another reincarnation in this 21st Century

 

In the year of 2006 bathed in sparkling glory

Once more to welcome all beguiled by its charms

Historic rallying point to politicians and evangelists

No lesser names than Gladstone, Disraeli and Sankey

Had there regaled their listeners with promised joy

 

And still today the Kibble promises delight

To earnest horticulturists and baby-minders

Who seek out refuge among its ferny groves

And find stimulus or rest according to their need

An experience they find is truly Upper Glass!

 

Ken Fisher