Category Archives: Ideas

Poems about the world of ideas

Poetry & Poetics

Poetry & Poetics

It seems that there is no limit to what can be said
‘Though the contents of this tome might rarely be read
I am nonetheless grateful to have received this gift
Whose scholarly content one should not resist

Within the compass of a mere 1639 pages!
The editors encapsulate the wisdom of ages
Thus reviewing the realm of poetry and of poetics
An encyclopedic panorama of art and aesthetics

This mammoth collection of sophisticated writings
Should satisfy any reader in quest of its findings
Thus it encompasses the entries in five categories
Surely enough for the most esoteric of enquiries

In analyzing the nature of poetry and poetics
Its offers a response to the sternest of critics
For it embraces every facet of this literary form
As it seek students to enlighten and inform

So this compendium highlights all the major themes
Terminology, periods, movements and genres
Societal influences, history and schools
And the complex mechanics of versifying rules

The range of poetic writing extends without limit
Culture, nationality, racial variation fail to inhibit
Gender and class, hierarchy, form and structure
Fail to enforce insurmountable strictures

Now I embark on this voyage of poetic exploration
Across undulating waves of this titanic publication
As on the distant horizon I strain my weary eyes
Hoping new insights and learning will be my prize

Ken Fisher

Ask Me No More

Ask Me No More

Ask me no more if with life I am content
No word or deed of which I now repent
No hasty action, no negligent omission
Rightly deserving others’ cutting admonition

Ask me no more if I have lived a virtuous life
Free from conflict, devoid of hostility or strife
For virtue is not simply some personal rectitude
But the moral life lived amidst the multitude

Ask me no more how happiness be gained
Does it demand all passion be constrained
But would such existence lose all humanity
Bound down by false notions or morality

Ask me no more if a conclusion I have reached
So many questions, I feel like a man impeached
Contentment, virtue, happiness, all three
Ask of me no more, but simply let me be

Ken Fisher

[First line each verse with due deference to
Thomas Carew – 1595-1640]

Good Books for Our Companions

Good Books for our Companions

 

‘Take good books for your companions’ – helpful advice
Given by a friend commending the value of reading
Companions who can transport us into paradise
As in imagination we find our mind engaging

The world of books extends without constraint
The primary division being  fiction and non-fiction
Within these two, the range knows no restraint
Beyond all that’s needed to meet every aspiration

Fiction books are works of the imagination
The creation of the author who would tell a story
In novels a plot is woven full of complication
In time denouement resolves it in all its glory

Fiction is an extensive genre of writing
Romance, mystery, poetry,  even horror
Creativity challenging and exciting
Stirring emotions of joy or even terror

Non-fiction advances more serious companions
These books are primarily works of hard fact
Expounding some theory but rarely without passion
Their intention is didactic or to show us how to act

Non-fiction writing seems to know no bounds
Every sphere of knowledge comes within its compass
Thus expert authors will on their field expound
Utilised for study at home, in school, wherever on the campus

Libraries are the reservoir of endless stocks of books
Fiction and non-fiction occupy their ample shelves
Read biography, history, or instructions how to cook
Dictionaries or travel guides and all kinds of self-help

Crime writing and mystery we can easily access
Suggestions as to how you might improve your health
Even audio-books to make our language skills progress
And investment manuals promising great wealth

Of course in the modern age print books are under threat
By computer versions we can easily download
But the libraries have learned their bets to hedge
By importing the hardware they can become a node

In a literate world books are spawned in great profusion
Creativity abounds without limit or reserve
But the market wallows in confusion
As traditional sellers attempt their share to conserve

Anyway, no matter where you seek out your reading choices
There is no doubt that good companions they will prove to be
As you imbibe the precious written words, the authors’ voices
You will discover the power of literature to set your spirit free

Ken Fisher

Thinking too much is doing my head in

Thinking too much is doing my head in

 

Thinking too much is doing my head in
A cerebral battle that I cannot win
A head filled with thoughts and endless ideas
And strong emotions that can bring me to tears

My mind is awash with conflicting beliefs
No clear guidance comes to give me relief
I try to make sense of all these strange notions
But hours of reflection yield no solutions

During the day I at times ruminate
Floating on dreams, I almost levitate
While my nights are filled with disturbing nightmares
Of frightening scenarios that lead to despair

At other times my brain wrestles with puzzles
Their complexity can often leave me befuddled
Crosswords, anagrams, Sudoku, or mahjong
No matter what, it seems to go wrong

Then there are the deep thoughts of philosophy
Whose concepts claim to be filled with profundity
But such thinking can often lead to confusion
Or deceive the mind with some sophist’s delusion

In order to free us from such potential tyranny
While avoiding the need for a shrink’s pricey therapy
We might need to give our head a thorough spring clean
And put our brain into temporary quarantine

So what might be the solution that will for us work best?
The fashion these days is surely Mindfulness
By this clever technique you learn to live in the moment
Thus putting a stop to the brain’s constant ferment

If you can achieve this new calm mental state
You will no longer find thoughts agitate
Accepting your feelings and body sensations
And neutralize all those brainwave fluctuations

Of course those who this cure would advocate
Will from your brain all these thoughts extirpate
Can offer no guarantee this internal battle to win
Ensuring your head won’t still feel done in!

Ken Fisher

Rewind

Rewind

If only, if only, we could hit the rewind
Swallow those words, rub out the lines
Take back what we’ve said in that moment so rash
Pick it all up, dump it in Trash

And not just our words, quite often our deeds
Ignoring others, only concerned for our needs
Blundering on with so little thought
Creating a climate ever so fraught

If only we might pause at that critical moment
And thus avoid leaving a hurtful endowment
Just stem the flow of unkind invective
Prompting regrets in the retrospective

It would be better if we could freeze-frame
Be mute for a moment before we declaim
Then ask ourselves why be so unkind?
And avert the need to beg for rewind

How might we avoid this need for regret
Praying that others will early forget?
Before every hasty word or precipitate action
Think first of others and their reaction

Let’s not forget that well-known adage
And thereby avoid unnecessary damage
‘It’s nice to be nice’ I am sure you agree
And from contrition you will be set free

Ken Fisher

Attitude

Attitude

 

Perhaps it’s how I think
Perhaps just how I feel
I wonder if there is a link
My thoughts thus made real?

‘It depends upon our attitude’
Is a phrase often rehearsed
Is this not just a platitude
From those in cliches well versed?

But attitude does truly matter
As we confront a situation
With fear or else with laughter
Signalling hope or trepidation

In the harsh world of competition
A little ‘attitude’ is surely needed
Set aside our inhibition
To ensure our plea is heeded

‘Attitude ‘ in a product or a service
Is now seen as quite a quirky virtue
Don’t hide it neath the surface
Loudly proclaim it to be true

The attitude of others affects our own reaction
An outlook, viewpoint and perspective
Our response to each new interaction
Oftimes personal and subjective

Perhaps you have recently heard the claim
A ‘can-do attitude ‘ is much to be prized
So if that style you can maintain
Without doubt you’ll be admired

Thus attitude, under whatever guise
Doubtless has significance
To reflect on it is wise
Don’t just leave life to chance

So in your  attitude be mindful

And never be forgetful
Of that timeless maxim
“Do unto others as you would have them
do to you”

Ken Fisher

Newspaper Supplements

Newspaper Supplements

You have heard the expression ‘too much information’
An example of this stems from newspaper publications
The weekend supplements are inclined to excesses
In the vast flow of material that spouts from their presses

The very size of the bundle you pull down from the shelf
Can all this be read by one person themself?
There are endless features, sometimes in sections
News, travel, finance, business, all demand your attention

If your interest is gardening, or the life-style of the llama
Or perhaps science is preferred to music or drama
If healthy living and sport is your main obsession
The supplements will surely give it expression

And then there are the colour magazine enclosures
Here fashion and glamour are given full exposure
Photographers are thus granted undoubted free rein
If they show rather too much we ought not to blame

For editors of these weekend cornucopia
Try to showcase a world resembling utopia
The travel supplements would take us all to exotic places
Island paradises peopled by outlandish races

And let’s not forget the crosswords and puzzles
We need these to exercise the cranial muscles
Although if we get stuck it might make us furious
And their answers to quizzes are sometimes quite curious

However I think the weekend supplements are really a boon
The Radio and TV programmes, even a cartoon
A range of material, far more than we seek
And weekend reading surely lasts us all week!

Ken Fisher

Buy NONE Get One Free

Buy NONE Get One Free

Never mind those offers that say ‘Buy One Get One Free!’
Here’s something better which you really have to see
In this case you are placed under no real obligation
To entitle you to claim your free remuneration

Most of us are cynics and find it hard to believe
It sounds as if someone seeks the public to deceive
In these hard times surely we can get zilch for nothing
Clearly we expect to pay in return for something

In the tough world of commerce all things have their price
And often to acquire them we must sacrifice
It may take a lifetime for us to acquire
The countless cravings which are now our heart’s desire

Perhaps that is the problem, the endless stream of wants
We try to suppress them but still our mind they haunt
Of course we must strive our daily life to sustain
And those of our dependents we also must maintain

And thus the quest to maximize our gain
Achieve satisfaction yet minimize the pain
So what is this gift that comes completely free
No necessary purchase, no expensive fee?

Well the answer comes from an unlikely source
One perhaps long forgotten along life’s winding course
At the heart of the Bible’s message, God’s grace is offered free
This is the saving power quite free to you and me

Like me, you may think this an old fashioned claim to make
Maybe you’re too case-hardened this free offer to take
But perhaps we simply need to learn to accept it at its word
And in trust we may discover that it’s really not absurd

Ken Fisher

 

See Also: BOGOF

 

Those Who Say

Those Who Say

 

There are those who say that we should listen
As if their advice must be taken as ‘given’
We have our own thoughts, our own opinion
Why must others’ views still take dominion?

There are those who say we are too overweight
And serious ill health will be our fate
There are those who say we spend far too much
And too-ready credit has become our crutch

There those who warn us of climate change
And soon its control will be out of range
There are those who say the seas will rise
A move to higher ground is wise!

There are those who presage the robot revolution
Threatening every institution
There will be no chance that we might shirk
Due to the disappearance of all work

There are those whose concern is population
As it continues to rise among the nations
There are those who fear mass migration
As refugees seek some safe haven

There are those who say we are over educated
Unemployment making graduates frustrated
And many say they are burdened with a lot of debt
That they will never pay, seems a fair bet

There are those who say getting a roof over your head
Will be hard to achieve before you are dead
Compared to their parents’ rich generation
The millennials often sense their alienation

There are those who claim we are overwhelmed
By too much information, yet we feel compelled
To constantly monitor hand-held devices
Being ‘always on’ – one of our current vices

There are some who claim this is modern slavery
An entrapment which is most unsavoury
We are meant to live in a world that is free
Captive to our screens, we cannot flee

There a those who say politics is in disarray
For many Brexit seems to augur great dismay
And scandals have rocked our institutions
The virtuous loudly cry for retribution

There are even those who say that God is dead
No longer need for prayers beside our bed
The funeral was attended by so very few
Only a tiny remnant there to say adieu

I could go on with this doleful litany
Of pronouncements laden with calamity
But perhaps it is time to call a halt
After all most of this is not our fault

So when someone claims there are those who say
We do not need to be filled with dismay
‘Cause at best it is only their own view
Which we have the choice to espouse or eschew

After all, from whence comes the authority
Of this amorphous, dogmatic entity?
The monopoly of truth is no-one’s possession
All such assertions we should question

Ken Fisher

See also:What Does it Matter? https://thebardofkelvindale.com/2017/12/27/what-does-it-matter/

What Does It Matter?

What Does it Matter?

 

What does it matter if you failed to win prizes
And never achieved even modest success
If your daily life produced no surprises
And few are the assets that you now possess

What does it matter if you gained no promotion
While others soared up to the giddy heights
You’re never aspired to swim the wide ocean
Or with the astronauts take a space flight

What does it matter if your artistic talent
Rarely succeeded the audience to thrill
No masterpiece came from your colour palette
No musical charms from your keyboard skills

What does it matter if you had no literary flair
Writing and poetry not your natural gift
Turgid plots, obscure verses simply made you despair
And to operatic arias you gave short shrift

What does it matter if you struggled with maths
History and geography left you equally cold
Failed to conquer science’s complex paths
And foreign grammar left you appalled

What does it matter if you never were famous
You didn’t progress to a dazzling career
People might claim you were rather aimless
A somewhat boring existence from year to year

Well this litany seems a little depressing
Life does matter, and we all must strive
To make the most of our gifts and our blessings
Above all the gift of this wonderful life

And we should not offer this lame excuse
That nothing matters in life when surely it must
Because we know in our heart that this is the truth
And to defect from that fact is a breach of our trust

Yes, it does matter, as we value each day
The moment provides us the opportunity
In small acts of love, and kind words we say
Together to build true community

Ken Fisher

A Christmas Carol for Party People [2017]

A Christmas Carol for Party People [2017]

[A new version of a poem posted at Christmas time in the last two years]

[Sing this to the tune of ‘Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown’]

We left God alone with his throne and his crown
For we had little time to spare
We were too busy spending our hard earned cash
Buying gifts and grooming our hair
For it’s party time and let’s just be rash
As we’re all heading off to town

But then someone reminds us of that stable bare
With the Holy Child in the manger
And the ox and ass and wise men three
Then we thought of those living in danger
The sick and the poor and the refugee
And all those deserving our care

So that Baby of old and the twinkling star
Tells of God’s great love which came
Into the world to save souls in their need
By kindling that tender flame
So come dear Lord wipe out all our greed
With the warmth from that stable afar

God never says no when we celebrate
He is happy to rejoice with us all
So give thanks to God who loves each of us
He too will come to the ball
So come dear Lord, we won’t make a fuss
As again you with us incarnate

Ken Fisher

History

History – ‘Just One Damned Thing After Another’

It was apparently Henry Ford who sagely declared
That “History was just one damned thing after another”
And I don’t think there is any way we can refute that
Because we think of history as moving with time

At school we were sometimes told that Geography is about Maps
And History was about Chaps
(Ignoring the enormous contribution of the female sex)
Anyway History is generally expressed as a reflexion of  peoples’ lives

Of course the timespan of human existence in terms of
The whole history of  the earth is limited to perhaps
About 200,000 years, and we don’t know much
Of the story of the very earliest chaps

But nonetheless it is a long time from 200,000 years ago
To our present day – a very large historical tome
would be needed to tell that story
And perhaps a little boring – let’s try it on Facebook!

But what did Henry Ford mean by just one damned thing?
It sounds as if he had a troublesome life
Well he was a brilliant engineering innovator
And his problems were more with the unions than engines

Anyway Ford, in using the epithet about History
Seems to me to have succinctly summed up
The nature of life and living down the centuries
Never easy for the human spirit, but triumphing through it all

But I wonder if we ourselves would put such a negative judgment
on our view of history. Some might prefer to say it was the constant
march of progress* down the years from the darkness of ignorance
and superstition to the light of knowledge and rationality

But this seems to overlook an endless succession of really damnable things!

Ken Fisher

  • Interestingly, I read that Marx took from Hegel the sense that
    progress is inevitable, and that history has a pattern and is 
    not just one thing after another.