Category Archives: Contemporary Issues

Poems about issues of the present day

Carpe Diem

Carpe Diem

The phrase carpe diem comes from the Roman poet Horace
Who encourages us ‘to seize the day’, trusting little to the future
Whether this is a wise prescription or not I am not sure
But I suppose the only time that is real, is this present day

The past has gone and cannot be re-written,
The future remains ahead and somewhat unpredictable
Of course we may try to make amends for the past
Anticipate the future and plan for eventualities

And yet I wonder how often our lives are constrained
By worrying over past actions, past words, past failures
And our outlook on the future diminished by fear of the unknown
Thus the present is overshadowed by past regrets and future forebodings

So the wisest approach might well be to live in the NOW
Even although our NOW is largely the outcome of our past
And our view of the future will no doubt colour the NOW
But NOW is still NOW – let’s live it in ‘real time’

Ken Fisher

Voting Day

Voting Day – Thursday 4th May 2017

[This is NOT the actual voting paper]

Once again here is your chance to exercise your choice
As citizens and electors you can express your voice
Despite the inconvenience of having to go along to vote
Or perhaps you have already done so, sending in that postal note

The candidates in these local elections are all so keen to serve
And I hope that all this waiting doesn’t make them lose their nerve
Each party sent out their leaflets making their intentions manifest
Promising to all of us to do their very best

It is a wonder that every party promises their own unique solution
To all that ails us from road traffic, poor schools, even pollution
All that we must do is cast our vote for their fine candidate
And joy for e’er thereafter is bound to be our fate

So whatever your views might be on local politics
And your doubts and fears that they really can things fix
It is better that you cast your vote in the democratic way
And thus, at least, you somehow contrive to have your say

One problem this time that may cause some confusion
Is the fact that we might be under some delusion
That these local votes are about issues far more national
Let’s hope this fact does not result in choices quite irrational

Nonetheless it is up to us, all those who cast their vote
To believe choosing is worthwhile, so let us not lose hope
In the power of the people to influence the future
It is the body politic which we must always nurture

 

Ken Fisher

See also: Election Time

and also: Pop Up Election

 

Moving House

Moving House

Moving house is quite an undertaking
The hassle might even be rather breathtaking
Ensuring that all your furniture will still be fitting
When you’re involved in what the Scots call a flitting

Then there are many other things to consider
Is my present wardrobe smaller or bigger?
To fit into that bijou space which seems so tiny
Never mind at least the new kitchen’s all clean and shiny

Will there be a fight in the family as to which room you get?
If it’s like most normal households that’s a reasonable bet
Then it’s time to assert your own authority
Making sure your desires are given priority

Then there is the need to decide on the colours you use
For carpets and paintwork, so much to confuse
And if you agree that you need new wallpaper
Get ready with ladders, and paste and the scraper

But no doubt in time it will all sort itself out
Keep a cool head and try not to shout
I hope all that inside work is not too much of a burden
‘Cause when it’s done you need to start on the garden!

Ken Fisher

 

 

Iconic

Iconic

You must have noticed how the word ‘icon’ is now much overplayed
In ordinary conversation we seem to hear it almost every day
Historically the word was used to describe a religious work of art
Nowadays applied to distinguish some object thus setting it apart

In the digital age icons are used to represent a useful ‘application’
Click on the app’s icon and its faculties leap into action
So in this case the icon is a symbol representing a function
The graphic and the routine working in conjunction

Now we seem to have decided that anything exceptional is ‘iconic’
From a well recognized brand name to a modern health tonic
Thus everyday symbols like those for Apple, Coke or Dyson
Stimulate in our minds a sort of anticipatory frisson

All this is good for the salesmen and marketing gurus
But I wonder if the term ‘iconic’ they have patently abused
Indeed we seem to hear that label used so often in these days
It has long ago begun to sound like an inconsequential phrase

So perhaps we should resolve to give the word ‘iconic’ a well earned rest
As a description of anything that we extol as being the very best
And find some other words to refer to artifacts exceptional
And avoid hinting at ideas that are really undeliverable

Ken Fisher

Near Miss!

Near Miss!

 

On most things in life we don’t want to miss out
But here is one goody we can well do without
For yesterday the earth dodged an asteroid
An alien object we were all glad to avoid

Apparently this detritus was as big as Gibraltar
And on its path towards us it never did falter
But fortunately the closest it actually came to our home
Was about one million miles, four times a trip to the moon

Asteroids are a regular threat to our peace of mind
Space scientists keep warning us from time to time
An asteroid may unleash energy like 1,000 atom bombs
Enough, no doubt, to turn mother earth into a tomb

So let’s hope we might manage to remain asteroid free
Or else to another planet we may all have to flee
But even if we can find refuge elsewhere in space
Some other flying object might to that haven chase!

Ken Fisher

 

 

 

Pop-Up Election

Pop-Up Election

Yet another election is about to pop up
On the exercise of democracy we never let up
Apparently about seven ballots in the last three years
We have to be consulted or so it appears

I suppose we really ought not to complain
Although having to choose is sometimes a pain
Mind you it gives work for the pundits and psephologists
Although it might send us all to our psychiatrists

Democracy is certainly a wonderful thing
And many blessings to us it can bring
But is it possible to have too much consultation
Resulting in considerable public frustration?

However, I suppose once again we must do the right thing
And demonstrate, like the customer, the voter is king
As it is the electors who in the end will decide
And with the result we must then abide

Ken Fisher

 

The Rule of Law

The Rule of Law

Who needs lawyers? You may well ask
To give an answer, quite a task
The law seems a profession quite lucrative
Its rewards are clearly remunerative

But the Rule of Law is much more than lawyers’ pay
About precepts that control our every day
Our freedom, our rights and our obligations
Legal rules forming society’s foundation

If people wish to live together in community
In ordered peace, and with impunity
From the imposition of others’ aggression
Their rights protected from transgression

They therefore need rules imposed by state
Which in disputes will arbitrate
So when crime is committed or contract broken
Justice will not simply be forsaken

Through history, law has come from many sources
The Common Law and Equity, followed by the Statutes
Rules made by Parliament to govern our affairs
Intended to ensure that common life is fair

Judges too have played their part
As legal interpretation turned to art
Laying down new precedents
With which lower courts must be content

Some European laws are imposed on our nation
These are Directives and Regulations
And all this may change in two years time
As Brexit becomes the new paradigm

Then there are local rules and even byelaws
Devolved legislation for simple causes
Thus we are enmeshed on every side
We must conform or woe betides!

The Rule of Law requires the Courts
Wherein the lawyers do besport
Judges and juries all required
That true justice ne’er be denied

And then we have our worthy police
Maintaining order, even peace
The Rule of Law they will enforce
That’s what their duties will endorse

Thus a whole apparatus is put in place
That the Rule of Law might be manifest
But above all the population must agree
That justice is what they want to see

Equality under the law is fundamental
Exceptions would be detrimental
To its strictures we must all comply
Even sometimes with a sigh

International law seeks to see fair play
Holding nations in its sway
Maintaining law where’er it can
Seeking justice for every land

In the end we have to have the Rule of Law
Or nature prevails, raw in tooth and claw
And to obey the law is surely wise
To sustain a world more civilised

Ken Fisher

BOGOF [Buy One Get One Free]

BOGOF

[Buy One Get One Free]

 

 

You are no doubt familiar with the technique
A marketing device, by no means unique
Whereby you are tempted to buy more than one
Because to get two they don’t increase the sum

Contrary to what you and I might well think
This has not been contrived to simply hoodwink
For centuries these offers were seen to be good
Apparently first used by Josiah Wedgewood

BOGOF is a method of marketing things
Extolling the benefits claimed goods will bring
Services too are sometimes offered in doubles
At no extra cost nor any more trouble

Economists claim that BOGOF increases sales
And the costing structure takes account of details
So although two items are given in exchange
Any loss of margin the turnover regains

So that is why BOGOF items appear regularly
And with sellers and buyers it has popularity
This clever marketing trick can simply combine
Your satisfaction with their bottom line

Ken Fisher

 

 

Threats from On High

Threats From On High

Apparently space has become a junk-yard
There is so much up aloft it has become a hazard
Detritus is now measured by some thousands of tons
Far greater than picked up by Steptoe and Son

Apart from threats from comets and asteroids
Space is no longer just an empty void
Old satellites, spent rockets, and defunct devices
Are floating out there in a variety of sizes

The planets of our ancient solar system
Over eons of time have been a victim
Of impacts small and others much greater
Resulting in some quite enormous craters

It is claimed that the dinosaur population
An asteroid impact led to annihilation
So you can see that objects falling from space
Might well do the same for our human race

And the reality is that the risk is increasing
With all the debris that we are releasing
And although these devices are put to good use
We must find a way to stop all this abuse

So technologists are conducting endless research
A method of disposal is part of their search
That after useful life junk might self-destruct
Or enter safe orbits thus humans won’t hurt!

However perhaps we should now all take heart
It’s been reported that a used rocket’s come back to earth
And in future we hope to recycle this kind of device
Which to the environmentalists must bring delight

Ken Fisher

Old Fashioned Radio

Old Fashioned Radio

I find the world of radio a great fascination
How transmissions are made by wave propagation
And the history or this amazing technology
Spreading the world’s treasures audibly

Elsewhere I wrote of radio’s evolution
And how it brought about a virtual revolution
From Crystal sets with their in-built cat’s whiskers
To VHF and  DAB via thermionic Valves and  Transistors

But an aspect of old radios that makes me smile
Is the detail printed on the wireless dial
The wavelengths are usually Medium or Long
Rarely they show Shortwave – not very strong

To select the wavelength there’s a switch to flick
So that leads to the programmes you may want to pick
The major provision seems to be the Home Service
Which serves those whose listening intentions are serious

The Home Service also has some local opt-outs
Scotland, Midland, Northern, and Wales to try out
The Third programme is for the intellectual mind
The Light programme for the rest of us  – unrefined!

The radio dials show that signals came from far and wide
Budapest, Munich, Paris, all on the Channel’s other side
Moscow, Brussels, Oslo, and somewhere called Hilversum
Apparently a town in the Netherlands not far from Amsterdam

Other stations that spread transmissions in the ‘ether’
Dublin, Hamburg, Strasbourg, and Lille feature
Back in middle England the Droitwich name
A major Long Wave transmitter of great fame

And let’s not forget that early rebel commercial pioneer
Radio Luxembourg on 208 filled the legals with such fear
It spawned the growth of pirate offshore DJ shows
And taught modern presenters all they know!

Religion was not neglected with broadcasts from the Vatican
And no doubt the other churches featured in the plan
To use the radio to ‘inform, entertain, and educate’
Which broadcasters even today claim they emulate

So there we have it, a nostalgic backward glance
Even in those early years quite an expanse
Of those with a message to spread by the radio emitter
Today surpassed by Facebook, Skype, WhatsApp and Twitter!

Ken Fisher

 

see also: Radio, the Listener’s Window on the World

Photo Opportunity

Photo Opportunity

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Do you ever get more than a little annoyed
At those snappers whose aggression seems unalloyed
As they compete with each other to get the best shot
The paparazzi – I’m sure you’ve heard of that lot

But it’s not just the professionals who can get in your face
The use of cameras is now so commonplace
That the whole imaging thing is almost unhealthy
Especially as we all seem obsessed with the selfie

This latter day trend arrived as photos went digital
And we could easily capture anything visible
So just as we found this new use for our phone
Our urge to take pictures has suddenly grown

So perhaps it is time to be more discreet
Let the camera lens take a back-seat
And simply greet people with a word and a smile
And let our eyes meet each other just for a while

Ken Fisher

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When the Light Darkens – Once More

When the Light Darkens – Once More

Following the Paris bombings in November 2015, then Brussels in March 2016, and then again with the runaway vehicle on the Promenade des Anglais, Nice, on Bastille Day, July 2016, we are now confronted with a similar event causing carnage much nearer home, on Westminster Bridge, London.

[These verses are the same as I posted on these previous occasions.  My sentiments haven’t changed]

When life seems good and full of light
How can its days turn into night?
But that it does there is no doubt
And inwardly we have to shout

What has gone wrong, who can we blame?
Why can’t our path remain the same?
A life of praise for all its joy
No longer does our heart employ

We seek for reasons why things change
And far and wide our thoughts do range
But contemplation brings no balm
It does not cheer or bring us calm

We agonise o’er words and deeds
O’er failure to confront the needs
That might these tragedies divert
And so our sorrow thus avert

But in this time of sad reflection
No nostrum found for lost affection
And only sadness is in sight
No early hope of love or light

Thus we must journey on our way
No cure for pain our fears allay
Our only hope that time might ease
And thus restore our inward peace

But just as night will turn to day
We’ll find again the sun’s bright ray
Will slowly mend our broken heart
As warmth and love it does on us impart

Ken Fisher