Category Archives: Events

Poems for special events and occasions

Father’s Day

Father’s Day

 Let’s not forget Fathers
They still have their uses
The nuclear family
Why make excuses?

Mums on their own, merit our praises
And such arrangements we don’t criticise
But to eliminate Dads from the family scene
We genuinely feel is not wise

Of household duties the Dads must remember
When rearing the kids to do their fair share
They can’t be secreted behind lame excuses
Such tactics they know are unfair

It is sometimes claimed that Dads tend to hide
Mums get landed with too much of the work
So come out of cover all Dads thus concealed
Join the front line – you’ve no right to shirk!

But surely it’s not all bad news
There is much that Dads can contribute
When Dad brings his manly talents and skills
For these gifts we would now pay tribute

So let’s on this day say thanks to all Dads
In households throughout our nation
We love you and praise you for just being you
Today is your celebration!

 

Ken Fisher

Summer Solstice 2020

Summer Solstice 2020

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
Rejoice again 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

Yet in this year of virus blight
We pray that prospects may be bright
Gradually those persistent fears subdued
Our hearts once more with hope renewed

Ken Fisher

‘Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There!”

‘Don’t just do something, sit there!’

Yes, read it again, I have got it right
Not perhaps what you thought when glanced at first sight
I am suggesting the advice that we all should heed
Is less doing, more sitting, that’s what we need

Most of our time we rush hither and thither
And our energy levels are inclined to wither
Endless demands on our time is the cause
We really should learn to take time to pause

I know the pandemic has for some slackened the pace
But for many their lives have turned into a race
Working from home and being an amateur tutor
Can burn out more than just the computer

And new worries for many have surely arisen
Competing  concerns have their crowded minds driven
Keeping everyone safe and the show on the road
Service the mortgage over their dear abode

Perhaps things will improve when they lift the restrictions
Though speedy return to normal seems like a fiction
In the meantime we simply must continue to cope
And keep alive for the future our earnest hope

So it’s NOT what’s to be DONE that should dominate
We need to find time to SIT, perhaps contemplate
Of doing we have all had far more than our share
For a change let’s just sit, it seems only fair!

Ken Fisher

Tattoo That on the Inside of My Eyelids!

Tattoo That on the Inside of My Eyelids!

Have you noticed the tone of the Government’s advice?
As we are kept locked down, as gripped by a vice
Stay Home, Stay Safe, Save Lives we are told
Now Stay Alert, which seems a little less bold

The message declared so many times
To transgress is clearly seen as a crime
No other demand can this call out-bid
Words almost tattooed inside my eyelids!

Each day on TV the officials parade
As if to perform some kind of charade
A Government minister appears on the scene
But peculiarly Boris can rarely be seen

In Scotland Nicola puts on a good show
Presented to us with her usual gusto
In her words some caution can be detected
Perhaps it is better that we Scots be protected

Testing is believed to bring us some hope
With tracking and tracing we will soon need to cope
Such procedures no doubt our lives will surround
Until that illusive vaccine is found

However at Westminster and Holyrood too
A determination to see this thing through
And no matter how we feel of this regime severe
The only choice but to persevere

So check out each day what we are being told
However you feel about this stranglehold
Don your mask, restrict your time out of doors
Stay home don’t be tempted the world to explore

Ken Fisher

Curmudgeons Under Threat

Curmudgeons Under Threat

In the current emergency state
Apparently it’s the fate
Of all the women and the men
Having reached three score years and ten
To limit their mobility
Whatever their morbidity
Because the pundits have decreed
We are too risky to be freed

I don’t think that’s really fair
To be tied to our armchair
Because many are still quite spry
Unprepared to say goodbye
Why force us into jail?
Our activities to down-scale
And while we can still breathe
Don’t present us with a wreath

There is life in the old dog yet
Curmudgeons are under threat
So leave us free to roam
We can find our own way home
All we want is a little space
To wander from home base
A journey without any tension
To the Post Office for our pension!

Ken Fisher

Celebration and Commemoration

Celebration and Commemoration

75 years on
A day of celebration
And commemoration

We celebrate the
End of the War in Europe
And rejoice in peace restored

We commemorate the
Lives all who died
Military and civilian alike
The price of freedom

For many of us
These are distant childhood memories
For the majority, simply history past
But we can pause
And be thankful

And today the living
Face a new and powerful threat
An unseen enemy
Menacing our health
Our wealth, our future

The expeditionary forces
Of science and technology
Mustering to hold the line
And engineer the victory

But for now
We must exercise patience
And perseverance
Until in due time
The adversary is overcome

And victory declared with celebration
As it was 75 years ago

Meantime we commemorate
All the victims of
The battle with Covid-19

Ken Fisher

 

 

Trapped

Trapped

The plight of so many

Locked up in the lockdown
No means of escape

Earnings dropping
Debts are rising

Claustrophobic
Internecine strife

Self-educating kids!
Super-glued to screens

Going nowhere
Isolating, except

Shopping outing
Highlight of the week

The nearest thing
To a masqued ball

Buses empty
Traffic muted

Walkers dance
Around each other

Daily doomsday
From politicians

Old crowded TV sit-coms
Blithely ignoring social distance

Pray for relief from boredom
Overlaid by angst

Let’s hope
We don’t go crazy

Trapped
Midst locked up in lockdown

Ken Fisher

New Every Morning (in Unsettling Times)

New Every Morning (in Unsettling Times)

When I stir from fretful sleep, thoughts churning at the opening day
How quickly does my mind recall the worries, fears along the way
Which pained my heart the night before and readily did steal my peace
And from this turmoil of the mind no easy flight or cheap release

And yet as I wake and come again to consciousness
I realize that this new day is given by God who richly promises
That every thought and deed may His good gifts reflect
He grants us life and health and all our ways affects

And as the hymn enjoins us to recall, the trivial round, the common task
Hallowed by His love is all we ask
The opportunity to show forth by our deeds
Our love for others, gracious care for each one’s needs

So each new day let’s make it our resolve that every care
Each task, each duty prompt our earnest prayer
That thus our lifetime’s daily story
May reflect on our Lord and bring Him glory

For life is lived in steps of one brief day
Thus we progress along our chosen way
So as each day provides a chance anew
Lets walk with God who can make all things new

Now in these days of tight confinement
While virus threat persists malignant
Let not our thoughts become obsessed
Ensure that hope is still expressed

Ken Fisher

Life on the Pause Button

Life on the Pause Button

 

You are happily working on your machine
When the swirling beach ball hits the screen
Perhaps simply meant to entertain
Let’s hope not the harbinger of pain

This spinning rainbow wheel should not alarm
It’s not intended to do us harm
It signifies attempts to run an application
And should not cause undue frustration

I wonder if that’s how you feel now
Life put on Pause, you don’t know how
That hovering disk of coronavirus
Huge interruption, undesirous

The coloured disk is just a sign
In computing really quite benign
Just a minor interruption
Not heralding life’s destruction

But here we are, all normal life on pause
Heroic NHS we would applause
And all those who help life to sustain
Until this menace we constrain

In due time that swirling ball should disappear
When we may cast aside our fear
Slowly from enforced isolation
Arise subdued and chastened nation

But in the meantime we must be patient
Each new day must be sufficient
And ‘normality’ will in time return
Then new patterns we must surely learn

Ken Fisher

Log-on All Ye Faithful

Log-on All Ye Faithful
[Easter worship during social isolation]

Easter, a time for reflection and celebration
The cross held high and the empty tomb
But this year the observance of our nation
Bound by the confines of our room

Meeting together as part of the church
By the virus put into suspension
Through the ‘chat room’ your presence we search
Would grasp again that eternal dimension

So may the message of Easter still resonate
God’s love shown for all on the cross
As on Easter morn we would celebrate
His rising, defeating all loss

So as each of us gather in our little cell
Denied being just one congregation
May we be assured that all will be well
Faith overcomes separation

Ken Fisher

Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever
In the first week of ‘confinement’ due to Covid-19

We’re approaching the end of this very first week
And perhaps you are becoming a computer geek
In order to keep in touch with other ladies and chaps
We need to wise up on those specialist apps

You will have heard of Twitter and of Facebook
And of course YouTube where we all take a look
Then there’s Face Time and Skype and also Snap Chat
And the clubbing experience of being on WhatsApp

Now I’ve newly discovered the marvels of Zoom
In the current emergency it is quite a boon
But the problem is knowing how these all operate
With drop-down menus and wizards to negotiate

But it’s well worth the effort to master the art
And in the on-line assembly we should play our part
For this nasty virus which is oh so persistent
Means no physical closeness – we must keep our distance!

So in the meantime when Cabin Fever is our communal lot
To maintain your sanity you must give some thought
So start trawling the web for apps on communication
And help to keep up morale in this benighted nation

Ken Fisher

Broadband Church

Broadband Church

[The response of the Church to viral induced separation]

We know of many ‘broad’ churches in this our homeland
But now the church is re-invented as it goes broadband
No longer can the people gather as a congregation
As coronavirus risk demands a degree of separation

But many preachers will exercise their initiative
Ensuring the message to their flock they can still give
They have come up with this ingenious solution
Offering prayer and comfort, perhaps for sins even absolution!

So on Sundays you don’t have to attend the local church
No longer for a service do you have to search
Instead the message will be beamed direct to you
No more shuffling along in the old church pew

So all you need to do is check out the local press
And in there you should find the web address
Worship will be streamed in a variety of ways
Facebook and YouTube, even Zoom will bring you praise

So keep in touch with God in this time of isolation
Don’t let lack of human contact spread across the nation
The broadband church can still keep us all united
Ensuring hearts and minds will not be benighted.

Ken Fisher