Category Archives: Geography, environment and places

Poems about places and the environment

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

Hi Tech Walking

Hi Tech Walking [A comment following the recent celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the West End Christian Walking Club]

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In simpler times, in days of yore,

when West End walkers closed their door,

and headed out into the bright

they generally travelled light

 

They took their bag, and woolly hat,

waterproof and this and that;

perhaps a scarf to warm their neck

but nothing of today’s high tech

 

The limits of their fancy gear,

comprised a hood to warm their ear;

no need for extra special kit,

except a trusty walking stick

 

But with the steady march of time,

to assist them in their trek or climb;

ensuring health in every foot,

more cash was spent to buy our boot.

 

Of course they didn’t simply buy one only,

they bought a pair, no foot went lonely;

no mountain was too hard to scale

as off they strode through hill and dale

 

As numbers grew to quite a size,

their Leader felt it would be wise,

when spread far out and looking gawkie,

they keep in touch by walkie-talkie

 

As years went by, a smarter phone,

arrived to help them as they roam;

near to home or even global,

help was at hand thanks to the mobile

 

So much for sound communication,

defining their exact location;

In this field the top “must have”

Is Glenda’s personal sat-nav

 

 

 

 

But walkers know my greatest mission,

to capture them in colour vision;

from Kodak film, to video tape,

No single walker could escape

 

Early photos weren’t so bad,

some when received made people glad,

but digital seems all pervasive,

no place to hide or be elusive

 

No matter their prevailing mood,

the camera has to intrude,

their “fancy had to have a tickle”,

when assaulted by the mega-pixel

 

When back at home, and at their screen,

to check e-mail on their machine,

ping goes the bell, “you have got mail”,

not from Ken Fisher, I hear them wail!

 

But there they are, each image clear

wanted or not, they have to bear,

recorded in sufficient clarity,

to be retained for all posterity

 

But in the end it is my plea,

that one and all will clearly see,

walks which have gone electronic,

might nonetheless be quite a tonic

 

And if they yearn for days of yore,

when things high-tech they could ignore,

they’d surely miss the image graphic,

which comes to them through data traffic.

 

 

 

 

Ken Fisher

 

 

 

 

A Pearl of Great Price (30 Years of WECWC)

A PEARL OF GREAT PRICE

[30 Years of the West End Christian Walking Club]

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For many of us the Walking Club is something beyond price

Its value to us o’er 30 years an ‘earthly paradise’

Good company and exercise and time for conversation

As on the paths and o’er the hills we took each month’s gyration

 

 

From earliest ventures on old Tinto’s rising slopes

We gradually realized what is every nascent walker’s hope

To learn to value the great outdoors with all that it can offer

The many splendoured gifts our countryside did proffer

 

So gradually o’er thirty years of meandering in the hills

Through forest lands and open fields beside a shady rill

In summer’s sun and winters chill and every kind of weather

We never let the climate affect our monthly pleasure

 

All sorts of walkers have formed our happy band

Not just the Scots or English but souls from every land

O’er decades many strange tongues have joined in dialogue

It is a mystery to me how they understood our Scottish brogue!

 

So here we are after thirty years still happily united

The fellowship, still much alive, by time has not been blighted

If this were a marriage it would now be our Pearl Celebration

So boundless thanks to Glenda is our loud acclamation!

 

 

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

 

WINTER SOLSTICE

Winter Solstice

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Winter Solstice

 

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 steady progress
The sun’s climb will this dark suppress
And soon its penetrating rays
Bring the lengthening of each day

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

Ken Fisher

Saving the Planet

SAVING THE PLANET [comment on current international discussions – Dec 2015]

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It seems to me among the threats from which there’s no relief

is warming of the global kind which parches earth and leaf

A menace strong as solid granite

which promises a deadly blow to life throughout the planet

 

At first we simply turned away, pretending all was well,

but gradually increased the noise from nature’s warning bell

Awareness of this mounting vice

shown clearly in the rising tides and gently melting ice

 

Why worry at impending doom

this threat, if real, unlikely to be soon

Technology must have some appliance

Let’s get on and check the science

 

 All warnings dire of petrol fumes or dangerous emissions

are set aside by one and all as ignorant suspicions

We claim clean engines now, which never have been better

all problems solved forevermore by catalytic converter

 

Health experts seem overwrought on dangers of pollution

but others think it can’t be hard to find a good solution

Technocrats are sure to help and even us to save

by harnessing the power of wind, if need be, the waves

 

 We, in the West, too fond of having plenty

Club members of the great G20,

The good and great within its ranks

the chiefs of mighty Central Banks

 

 With power like that we can ensure

the pleadings of the needy poor

do not upset our life of ease

demanding we be kind to trees!

 

Or temper use of fossil fuels

Or other kinds of nature’s jewels

Resources of those poorer lands

grabbed by our great colonial hands

 

 After all, this is our life

achieved through years of work and strife

At all costs we must keep our gain

To do other, means much pain

 

 But all the nations rich or poor

must work together, seek a cure

And rich may need to learn to suffer

their ease may prove it all the tougher

 

And when it comes to issues global

problems become highly mobile

No nation stands completely safe

from tempest’s winds or ocean’s waves

 

 The rising tide and searing sun

challenge life for everyone

Disease and famine knock each door

No-one immune – the rich or poor

 

 Perhaps there is a glint of hope,

the need to find a way to cope

Each year is dawning somewhat clearer

as melt-down time seems ever nearer

 

 The leaders seem at last to grasp

before our breath becomes a gasp

That time is short if we’re to save

our children from an early grave

 

 On carbon footprints let’s step light

Gas guzzlers out – get on your bike!

On grow your own, why not be keen?

Your favourite colour should be green

 

 Recycle anything you can

Cut out all waste must be our plan

Turn off the power when not in use

Recycle glass if you must booze!

 

 And so in many little ways

Collective effort stems future blaze

Which global warming has in store

A fate we simply can’t ignore

 

 If citizens will do their bit

Our leaders then might well see fit

To echo modest aspirations

Giving a lead to all our nations

 

 This cannot be the final word

To say that would be quite absurd

The God who made this world at first

remains the One in whom we trust.

 

 Ken Fisher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunshine on the East Neuk (Fife)

Sunshine on the East Neuk

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Nestling on the eastern edge of Scotland’s lesser Kingdom

With fertile field and bustling ports within its wide dominion

This gentle strand along the coast – Fife’s very own East Neuk

Deserves a visit from us all – why don’t you take a look?

 

For there we will discover stretched along the shores

Gems that shine so brightly, treasures in its store

From bustling ancient harbours still active in their trade

And bumpy cobbled streets on which shoppers promenade

 

The whole thing held together by meandering Coastal Path

In summer months a gentle stroll, in winter, waves show their wrath!

As we gaze across the firth’s wide seas we scan the Isle of May

From Anstruther the ‘Princess’ will take us for a day

 

The villages along the coast fill our minds with romance

Elie, St Monans, and Pittenweem, enough to make us dance

And Anstruther and Cellardyke the jewels of fife’s crown

Each and all together speak of this land’s renown

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

The Wonders Of Wales

The Wonders Of Wales

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From seaside strand to crumbling pile

This ancient land displays some style

From country lanes much overgrown

To rippling water smoothing stones

To touring cyclists on their bikes

And walkers following Offa’s Dyke

And others lazing in the shade

Rarely from the high street strayed

This Cambrian land has much to offer

And to the visitor can proffer

Rural treasures there abound

Yet urban pleasures still redound

One feature sometimes overlooked

Which we might think is gobbledygook

The Welsh language is widely spoken there

But so is English – don’t despair!

The Principality extends its welcome

Its hills and vales will surely beckon

This land of song and gentle charm

Will all resistance soon disarm

Ken Fisher