Category Archives: Events

Poems for special events and occasions

Advent-ure

Adventure [To mark the 3rd Anniversary of moving, on the first Sunday in Advent 2016 ,  of Hillhead Baptist Church, Glasgow to temporary accommodation in a West End Hotel]

search-6

 

This is the tale of our church that is now on the move
From the building which for years was the home that we loved
But time has come to embark on a venture
Which perhaps for many will prove an adventure

For long we have waited the signal to go
And with anticipation our hearts were aglow
At last it would seem the conditions are right
The congregation together will join in the flight

But we are not flying far, thank goodness for that
Just a few hundred yards to the Welcome mat
Of a local hotel with doors open wide
Happy to let us gather inside

On this first Sunday in the Advent Season
I think we will find there is every good reason
To look forward in joyful anticipation
Like the Shepherds of old, full of expectation

So let’s join the Adventure with no hesitation
No doubts in our hearts or prevarication
No matter the changes we’re sure we will cope
For trusting in God we truly have hope

As we depart from the Tryst and take to the road
To the place we have chosen as our temporary abode
This adventure is sure to bring us success
As by faith’s road we onward progress

And now three years on the congregation still waits
Although early building development we anticipate
In the meantime we all remain in good heart
Each seeking with God’s help to still play our part

Ken Fisher

imgres

 

Black Friday

Black Friday

search-8

Black Friday has arrived,
Indeed it seems to have been here all week
This mad scramble for bargains
Gives birth to rugby scrums in shopping malls
And melt-down on computer networks
As search engines and eager bargain-hunters
Hit the town centres and the web browsers

I wonder if this whole exercise has some cathartic purpose
Pent-up emotions being released in some orgasmic frenzy
But who stirred up the desire in the first place?
Did we harbour some deep repressed longing to buy, buy, buy
Or was it the wiles and blandishments of the advertisers
On behalf of the retailers in their constant need for profit
Who ensured that we would not remain lethargic

Well whoever is to blame, ourselves or the market place
We are assured that today will produce record-breaking turnover
Shops may be crammed with customers
And the on-line trade will ensure the white-van army
Of delivery agents will shift the goods from anonymous
Warehouses up and down the land, to your door and mine
And we will jump for joy at the ring on our door bell!

Happy shopping!

Ken Fisher

Get Over It!

Get Over It!

[Written on the day when the Presidential Election Result came through]

 

search-1

 

For some it will be welcome news
For others a bad attack of blues
For many it brings satisfaction
For others, a severe adverse reaction

But however now you may be feeling
A great result, or unappealing
With dear Donald we must cope
So don’t despair, don’t give up hope

Let’s pray that time will moderate
And reflection mitigate
Extreme threats made of drastic action
May be subject to redaction

Democracy has chosen its way
The nation’s voters had their say
So in the end we can’t complain
Of what will follow in its train

Trump will soon be President
A fact that some no doubt resent
But he has pledged greatness again
Which by his deeds he will sustain

So if we regard this as bad news
With all our liberal-minded views
Please don’t simply throw a fit
Just grit your teeth, Get Over It!

Ken Fisher

God Bless America

God Bless America 

(Written on polling day 8 Nov 2016)

search

Let’s hope that whatever

The outcome of today’s Presidential

Election brings

 

That when all the

Verbal skirmishing is over

All the scaremongering

And predictions of doom

Have died away

 

That this great nation

May find a renewed calm

A restored poise

A relaxed confidence

 

That it might once again

Take its place

As the supreme paradigm

Of democratic rule

 

 

 

 

Ken Fisher

 

As a Revolutionary Guy Fawkes Was Relatively Tame!

As a Revolutionary Guy Fawkes Was Relatively Tame!

search-4

 

Who can doubt the treachery of Guy Fawkes in days of yore
As audacious as any revolt that had come before
To kill King James and those then sitting in Parliament
Was the purpose on which these bold plotters were bent

But the plotters were ‘foxed’ when the cellars were checked
And their malicious intentions did not go unchecked
Thus failed the plan to divert history’s direction
With the death of those who foment disaffection

Fast forward from those events of 1605
The desire for reform is still much alive
Perhaps gunpowder no longer the agent of change
Other forces at play can  our lives rearrange

Politics, the modern weapon whereby changes are wrought
Citizens express their desires through the ballot box
So elections now ignite the volatile spark
Resulting in changes that may be quite stark

The referenda can trigger demands quite explosive
As feelings are stirred making tempers emotive
Demands for freedom from the yoke of the oppressor
Those perceived of our rights to have been the transgressor

And so on the  European Question there was little doubt
Deeply divided opinion on whether IN or OUT
Brexit is bound to bring far-reaching change
Who yet knows if these will be losses or gains?

While at this time of year Guy Fawkes may be fondly recalled
By contemporary scandals we are not quite so enthralled!
But one thing is sure, changes will come, and we’ll have to cope
So keep your powder dry and don’t give up hope

It is odd to reflect that the prestige of Westminster
May be tarnished by the new sobriquet ‘sexminster’
Let’s hope MPs can revert to propriety
And I don’t simply mean maintaining sobriety!

Ken Fisher

Halloween

Halloween [Monday 31st October 2016]

search-8

Trick or Treat I hear them ask – what should I reply?
As on the threshold of my door the guisers I espy
To ward them off I pay their price as if it were a ransom
With fruits and sweets and even nuts a gift that I thought handsome

But before I let my ‘guests’ depart I ask them in return
What entertainment will they provide, what act will they perform?
It is in times like these I find that suddenly they’re silent
Unable to convince me that Britain has still Got Talent!

However, eventually together they muster up some courage
One even recites a bawdy poem – not really with much flourish
Two more play on the ‘air guitar’ a stimulating riff
While others mouth imagined lyrics, standing there quite stiff

The performance duly over towards the door they shuffle
And in sharing out the Treats try to avoid a scuffle
It was then I notice their costumes quite exotic
Theatrical to say the least – some even psychedelic

These young celebrants in this ancient hallowed festival
Of evil spirits, ghosts and some things quite heretical
Are really just out to have fun with all their many friends
And despite their spooky garb they bring no ill intent

So when our doorbell rings with the challenge ‘Trick or Treat’?
Let’s welcome them with open heart – and with a smile do greet
‘Cause on the eve of All Saints’ Day it’s best that we been seen
To welcome visitors e’re so strange on this night of Halloween

Ken Fisher

 

Clocks Go Back

Clocks Go Back [Sunday 29th October 2017]

clocks-710277

 

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

It seems to me this time of year might make you feel depressed
And sometimes negative feelings can be manifest
Some people think this clock change is the harbinger of doom
And thoughts of hibernation fill their hearts with gloom

But most of us will soon 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

Equinox [22nd September 2016]

Equinox

[22nd September 2016]

search-1

This astronomical event occurs twice a year
When the plane of the Earth’s equator
Passes through the centre of the Sun
On this day the Sun shines directly on the equator
And day and night are approximately equal

Today is the Autumnal Equinox
And our minds look back to warm summer days
And forward, with some foreboding, to approaching winter
And we are happy to say, for now, not yet!

An Equinox is perhaps a good time to reflect
On all that has been good in life
To give thanks for many blessings
For holidays, and travel, and time for relaxation

As the tint of the leaves turns and they begin
To flutter down to form an ochre carpet
Like the lowering of a flag at the end of a parade
We realise that gradual change must come

But shortening days and lengthening nights
Need not bring somber thoughts
Or fears of nocturnal terrors
‘Cause winter brings its own special charms

Family gatherings round the ‘hearth’
Bonfires and fireworks displays
Trudging home through deepening snow
To celebrate Christmas with those we love

And so we acknowledge the endless
Progression of the calendar
Through equinox to solstice
And solstice to equinox,
And again
An unending gyration

Ken Fisher

 

 

 

Exam Results – Congratulations and Commiserations

Exam Results

Congratulations and Commiserations

search

 

In Scotland today comes the hour of great trepidation
As candidates await with some consternation
For the message to wing its way from on high
From those who your scripts have to classify

Nowadays you don’t have to wait for the post
Texts and emails reach the land coast to coast
But if you prefer the news by simple snail mail
I hope the results don’t make you turn pale

As in the past there will be those filled with joy
And others who think their hopes are destroyed
Quite a few will feel a great sense of relief
Yet others whose message seems beyond belief

So whatever the news that you receive on this day
For good or ill, or perhaps just some shade of grey
Take it calmly and look onwards to what to do next
There are so many choices, so don’t be perplexed

Ken Fisher

Holiday’s Challenge to our Soul

Holiday’s Challenge to our Soul

P1070795

 

The calendar routine is set aside, released from enslavement to its rhythms
The prospect of a week or two of uncharted freedom leaves some uneasy
Perhaps the regularity of familiar patterns has turned us into automatons
We seek liberty but fear the impending loss of habitual strictures

However, no turning back now, forward is the only choice remaining
And so we set off on our journey casting aside our doubts and trepidation
We move steadily towards our destination, relieved no incident has impeded
Our progress to the long-planned journey’s end

Within a few hours of our arrival, new sights and sounds have our mind assaulted
New situations, and novel experiences soon cast aside our earlier foreboding
As we begin to feel the joy of patterns unfamiliar and surprises unforeseen
Thus re-awakened to a fresh and different mode of living

Those early days of holiday seem to pass at their own plodding pace
But very soon the tempo of life’s carousel accelerates
Each day now filled from dawn to late sunset
With activity to stimulate our bodies and our minds

This onslaught of frenetic activity, and sometimes quiet reflection
Has quite dissipated the doleful mood which marked our earlier arrival
So that now the prospect of the end of our vacation
Is viewed with equal disquiet as was the start

Perhaps most holidays are too short, not sufficient time
To disengage from all that would our lives oppress
Yet if they were to become much longer
How would we cope with re-entry to reality?

Ken Fisher

When the Light Darkens – Yet Again

When the Light Darkens – Yet Again

search-1

The Promenade des Anglais, Nice, France

Following the Paris bombings in November, then Brussels in March, and now yet again with the runaway vehicle on the Promenade des Anglais, Nice, on Bastille Day,  July 2016.   One wonders if we are ever to be free of the spectre of impending terror.  And yet, I dare to repeat the sentiments of my poem posted on those two previous occasions

 

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

Regime Change

Regime Change

[13th July 2016]

search-1

Today the Queen will give an audience to Theresa May
Our new Tory Party Leader and Prime Minister
We are almost breathless at the political turmoil
Which has engulfed the nation since the EU Referendum

Whether this can be described as Regime Change
[As claimed for Afghanistan after the invasion]
Or something on a more modest scale
Nonetheless we have been witnesses
To cataclysmic change in leadership at home

The race to the top became more of scramble
As aspirants slipped on the mud slung at each other
Touseled heads rolled down slippery slopes
And the fairer sex became the victim of their own jibes

And not only the ‘ruling’ party but the opposition too
All seem bent on internecine strife, the nation
Watches on in incredulity and bemusement
Not our greatest moment midst political mayhem

But surely in due time the dust will settle
After all, compromise will no doubt be the cure
But in a new geo-political climate nothing can stand still
And regimes new or old must meet the challenge of the age

Ken Fisher