Category Archives: Events

Poems for special events and occasions

Breaking News

Breaking News

Breaking News
Two words we don’t want to hear
But cannot ignore

What now? We wonder
Are we not already punch-drunk
With the latest tidings
Of disaster, tragedy and death

Breaking News
Here we go again
As the little siren caption
Runs along the TV screen

Demanding our immediate attention
To some gut-wrenching catastrophe
Another addition to the stockpile
Of the world’s tribulations

Breaking News
Don’t they know we have enough
Trouble just coping with daily life?
It’s not that we just don’t care
We do – but how?

Breaking News
Perhaps the media moguls
Should be forced to ensure
There’s some good news too
Breaking News that won’t
Break our hearts

Ken Fisher

See also my poem: Unfettered Catastrophising

Still In Limbo

Still in Limbo

Apparently Limbo is the very edge of Hell
And that’s our world’s new perch
Hovering o’er that deep abyss
As for peace so many search

As weapons clash and innocents are slaughtered
The sound of warfare continues unabated
Who will bring peace, end all this strife?
The conquering lust be sated

Each new day we wait for news
That peace might be restored
Pray that weapons be laid down
But justice ne’er ignored

And so in Limbo we still wait
Amidst lives and homes laid waste
The trappings of our civil world
Shattered and debased

Ken Fisher

Don’t You Wish It Wasn’t Happening?

Don’t You Wish It Wasn’t Happening?

 

Don’t you wish it wasn’t happening?
That somehow it’d go away
The not-so distant noise of battle
We wake up to each new day

Switch off the media
We’ve heard quite enough of that
The sound of gun-touting soldiers
Drowns out the diplomat

We stand on the sidelines
Impotent to save
Gazing at the newsreels
As innocents face the grave

Don’t you wish it wasn’t happening?
Can we turn back the clock?
Renew the uneasy peace
The shelter of deadlock

Of course we wish it wasn’t happening
But we are now where we are
A desperate prayer for peace with justice
Ere all mankind has gone too far

Ken Fisher

 

Tombstones and Snowdrops

Tombstones and Snowdrops

Ominous rumblings
Of invasion and war
As the nations emerge
From pandemic peril
Peace once again shattered
By belligerent power

It seems crisis is
Forever endemic
Tombstone memorial
Looming over bright hope
In this new year’s
Burgeoning snowdrops

As the world holds its breath
May the light of hope
Escape from under
The tombstone’s shadow
Tiny white flags, not of appeasement
But of justice and peace

Ken Fisher

 

Time to Move On

Time to Move On

When Governments and people are knee-deep in trouble
And somehow they hope to escape but still struggle
They pretend the matter is now all but gone
And insist that this is the time to move on

But of course that is really just camouflage
The real facts they are simply trying to massage
They hope our outrage to quickly avert
And by some other issue our eyes to divert

Our concentration they would not want to prolong
Insisting as always that they’ve done nothing wrong
They try to point out something else that’s distracting
And they declare we are just over-reacting

In this present hour the powers that be
Want us to ignore that they’ve been on a spree
Partying and revelling in jollification
At times out of tune with the rest of the nation

It seems this time they have misjudged the mood
Their inappropriate antics did them no good
They really must now show some genuine contrition
If for their sins they might seek remission

Time to move on may be all well and good
No doubt they’d hope that they really could
But in the meantime they must try to show more respect
To restore a reputation they so wilfully wrecked

Ken Fisher

 

 

Epiphany 2022

Epiphany 2022

Today is Epiphany – in Biblical terms
The Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles
The Magi, guided by the star seek the Christ Child
But what is our epiphany?

To-day we often call it an ‘aha’ moment
A sudden revelation or insight
A new discernment, greater awareness
A flash of comprehension

Perhaps within the midst of the
Fogging of our thoughts,
The tedium and ennui of these dark days
We too might be galvanised by inspiration

Shake off the dolour and melancholy
Raise our vision to an emerging horizon
Enliven our perception, press on to
The sunnier uplands of 2022

Ken Fisher

At the Threshold of the Year 2022

At  the Threshold of the Year 2022

Time is sometimes called the Fourth Dimension
Length, breadth and height the other three
But time can fill our hearts with apprehension
No wonder that it’s often said to flee

‘Tempus fugit ‘ we plead as ready-made excuse
When everyday concerns and never-ending cares
A sense of guilt and failure does induce
Our quest for peace and freedom thus impaired

But time cannot be stalled; its steady progress will not falter
Its march like Roman legions moving ever onward
Along straight roads, their fixed direction does not alter
The army moves in steps that take them ever forward

And so it was that in those dark fading days of late December
As we approached the threshold of yet another year
Thoughts filled with joy and sorrow as we remember
Hopefulness for days ahead but not without our hidden fear

What lies just beyond the gate of this New Year?
You have been warned: ‘the past no guide to future performance’!
Would life be simpler if the way ahead was clear?
Why do we ever have to seek for reassurance

And this year we enter on with trepidation
As 2021 brought challenges unprecedented
In 2022 our hopes again rest in effective vaccination
Thus greater certainty may make us more contented

And so as we peer into the void beyond this New Year’s Day
We simply must accept that unlike length or breadth or height
The realm of time brings with it ‘come what may’
Our prayer remains that faith and hope will bring us light

And so my friend step onward with a steady pace
Give thanks for many blessings in the past
Let love for life and all mankind your heart embrace
And to God’s providence our trust remain steadfast

Ken Fisher

 

 

No Longer and Not Yet

No Longer and Not Yet

Stumbling towards Hogmanay
Amidst this year’s dwindling days
We cast a wistful backward glance
And forward through the unknown haze

No longer amenable to change
Those unkind words regretful deeds
The clock refusing to turn back
Too late apologies to plead

Not yet whatever lies ahead
Its promise still to be revealed
Time remains the secret’s guardian
For good or ill our fate concealed

No longer, not yet, a moment’s pause
Straddling calendar’s divide
Accept what’s past, welcome the future
Providence will yet provide

Ken Fisher

 

Twixmas

Twixmas

What do you do during the week we call Twixmas
The seven twilight days following Christmas?
And as rowdy Scots may gear up for the revelry
Traditionally known to them all as Hogmanay

I suppose most use these hours to sleep it off
All that rich food and booze that they quaffed
Others take time to play with their toys
Not only the kids but grown-up boys

Perhaps the virtuous write thank-you notes
For gifts received which fulfilled their hopes
Others might try to remember who gave them what
From Aunt Matilda – underpants? Who would have thought?

Then there are all those gift vouchers or Amazon codes
If you’re into high tech you might have got loads
Like on a much coveted cake these are the cream
But I wish you success as you try to redeem

Perhaps in Twixmas we might visit some friends
To bring seasonal greetings, but try not to offend
For the coming year, to wish them all the best
But you must first of all take a Lateral Flow Test

Some might decide they want to get active
That new sporting kit they think makes them attractive
But there are even more who prefer indoors instead
Tucked cosily together neath the new duvet in bed!

So in Twixmas it’s for each one to decide
And whatever it is you are not surely obliged
To listen to others telling what you should do
Lazy or active it’s all down to you!

 

Ken Fisher

God Surprises Earth With Heaven – (2021)

God Surprises Earth with Heaven

God comes in a surprising way
As we awake on Christmas Day
He comes the gift we don’t expect
No more commanding our respect
We’ve grown world weary, cynical
Incredulous of any miracle
How can the gift of the Christ Child
Make God and man be reconciled?
Only in humble trust and expectation
For pride and conceit make expiation
Grasp the hand from God above
Here below, show forth his love
Thus heaven surprises here on earth
Confounded by an infant’s birth

Ken Fisher

Christmas Isn’t Cancelled

Christmas Isn’t Cancelled

Christmas isn’t cancelled
It just had to change its name
Like those colonial tumbling statues
We’ve been told we should defame

The problem seems to be
The name ‘Christmas’ too exclusive
And in the modern world so woke
We must learn to be inclusive

‘Winter Holiday’ is considered quite acceptable
Or ‘Festive Season’ we can easily defend
At all costs avoid religious labels
That might certain faiths offend

I suppose life in these islands
Has become largely secular
So the loss of Christ in Christmas
May not now seem peculiar

But although the genesis of Christmas
May have lost its true significance
It’s a pity this great Church festival
Might not still have resonance

So we’ll have to be content
With Christmas by another title
Not demur at enforced change
And all objections stifle

You may have thought that Covid
Has made Christmas disappear
But it’s the mighty PC warriors
Who have filled us all with fear

However by whatever name
Attached to this celebration
Let’s hope it still brings joy
To all throughout the nations

Ken Fisher

See also this poem presented a year ago when,
like now, Covid remained a menacing threat to
all celebrations
Click link below:
Is Christmas Cancelled?

Winter Solstice 21/12/21

Winter Solstice 21/12/21

The shortest day the longest night
Benighted souls seeking the light
The sun in deepest declination
Darkness shrouds the northern nations

The solstice marks a time of change
From the light we’ve been estranged
For longer days our hearts do yearn
Sunlight surely must return

For in due time by slow progress
Climbing sun will dark suppress
And soon its penetrating rays
Bring the lengthening of our days

As the solstice now we mark
Entombed in gloom and shadows dark
Let’s look to brightening days ahead
Returning light becomes widespread

In this, wretched Covid’s second year
Yet engulfed by gloom and fear
We pray that with extended light
All our future’s may yet turn bright

Ken Fisher