Category Archives: Nature and the Seasons

Poems on Nature or the Seasons

Just a Thought

Just a Thought

[A thought for the Walkers of the WECWC]*

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On our walks we’ve travelled many a mile o’er Scotland’s pleasant land
But sometimes we would do well to look quite near at hand
For on our very doorstep great beauty can be found
So pause a moment to enjoy the local sights and sound

And each season brings new vistas and prospects to admire
Light and shade, and wind and rain, can set our hearts afire
For month by month we watch the cycle of growth to fullest bloom
And as the year progresses life declines to darker gloom

But we take heart that near our own door such solace can be found
And reflection of life’s changes are apparent all around
So let us choose, just now and then, to wander near at hand
And as we do we’re sure to find pleasures quite unplanned

So why not set your sights a little closer some time soon
I’m sure that you will find this a blessing and a boon
You need no car to take you to where this can be found
A few minutes walk is all you need to find such joy unbound

Ken Fisher

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All views – Glasgow’s Botanic Gardens

At The Threshold of the Year

At the Threshold of the Year – 2017

[First posted at the end of 2015]

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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
It’s 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 is that in these dark fading days of late December
As we approach 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?
We’ve 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 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

 

An Extra Second

An Extra Second

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I wonder if you realise that this year will be extended
By adding an extra second it will be protracted
So ensure you make good use of this bonus time
To enjoy an extra moment doubtless is no crime

To guarantee our clocks remain forever accurate
Scientists tell us it is now vital to create
A ‘leap second‘ and add it to the year
Which on Hogmanay will surely bring much cheer

Thus by this adjustment our clocks will keep in line
With what the experts describe as solar time
Coinciding with the earth’s slowing rotation
The planet and the clocks echoing gyration

Ken Fisher

Christmas Morning

Christmas Morning

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The excitement of anticipation,
Children tip-toeing downstairs
In search of Santa’s bounty
The tearing open of those wrappings
The shrieks of pleasure as the long-awaited
Gifts are exposed

Mum and Dad come to find out if burglars
Have arrived to upset the household
The children squeal with joy as they
Show what Santa has delivered
Parents gasp conspiratorially
Admiring his awareness of all
That had been hoped for

Then the stockings are pillaged
Revealing their cache of treats and sweets
No longer just the time honoured fruit
The current Apple is probably a Mac!

After the intial excitement
Then parents too check to see
What Santa has done for them
In the hope that it might be more than
Socks or hankies – perhaps a spa break
Or a hamper full of goodies!

Then breakfast – don’t eat much
Leave space for the Christmas feast
The full works accompanied by the crackers
With their crafty little jokes – who thinks them up?
Indeed who needs philosophers?
The whole thing kept afloat by your favourite tipple
Remember to drink sensibly – especially the drivers

Traditional TV programmes will compete for those
Whose eyes will be glued to their new iPads
The Queen’s inspirational message muffled
By those ears stopped with headphones
Lambasted by the latest gaming wizardry
The traditional phone call to relatives
Superseded by a thousand tweets, Skypes, Face Time
Or whatever instant messages assail your privacy

Anyway that’s the modern Christmas
And of course not all will celebrate in happy families
Some choosing to be alone, others filled with memories
And yearning for the companions now gone from their life

And somewhere in the distant background is that stable
At Bethlehem, with the baby in the manger,
Still radiating the message of love
To every human soul in this angst-torn world

Ken Fisher

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Danger, Thin Ice!

Danger, Thin Ice!

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In the deep midwinter, this sign you may observe
Intended to ensure you’re safe, surely life preserve
Thin ice is a hazard, a threat without a doubt
Don’t risk a step upon it or else you may find out

But the danger of thin ice goes beyong just glassy lakes
It can refer to other risks that in our life we take
For at times we find ourselves quite unwisely heading
In ways just as dangerous as if on thin ice we’re treading

For example I wonder how often we have breached a moral rule
Or spoken thoughtless words or acted like a fool
Or pushed our luck too far when dealing with authority
Abandoning our usual inclination to conformity

At other times we have been known to make exaggerated claims
Of our abilities or talents, or skills at sport or games
But without doubt such lies, like the ice’s thin veneer
On close examination such boasts soon disappear

So whatever path your life may take here is my advice
Don’t tread anywhere where you might find you’re standing on thin ice
Tell the truth, follow the rules, act always with integrity
And you will find the ground beneath maintains its solidarity

Ken Fisher

CHRISTMAS CAROL – FOR PARTY PEOPLE

Christmas Carol – for Party People

[A re-posting of a poem issued at Christmas time in the last two years]

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

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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 we must look good
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 loving flame
So come dear Lord wipe out all our greed
With the light 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

Darkness

Darkness

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Doesn’t this time of year make you feel depressed?
We wake up in the dark and darkness descends again
when we are only half-way through the afternoon
Then we have to face the long hours through twilight
And the elongated hours of night

Perhaps we should be doing what other sensible creatures do –
Hibernate! But no, we humans must be always awake,
To switch off somehow demonstrates weakness
So we flounder about in the gloaming and the pitch black
Determined not to let the lack of light make any difference

I suppose there are some advantages of these dismal days
The imperative of cultivating the garden or allotment is
Lifted as the plants obey their preordained cycle of life
Similarly the trees cannot any add any further shade
Where shadows have little means of existence

Of course we humans do all we can to defy the dark
As we approach Christmas we create more artificial light
From huge town-centre displays where civic pride is demonstrated
In multi-coloured, electronically choreographed star bursts
To a humble domestic tree, with a few twinkling bulbs

Perhaps we should learn just to accept the darkness
As part of the natural rhythm of the year
And take the opportunity to disengage our minds
From constant stimulation, endless arousal
And simply BE, instead of always DO

Ken Fisher

Turkey Without Legs!

Turkey Without Legs!

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Here’s a thing you did not know
And I assure you that it’s so
Legless turkey is being served
A phenomenon I have observed

As you see from this tasty plate
Who needs legs you might debate?
When stuffing’s there and so’s the meat
With sprouts and roasties, quite complete

It’s just that somehow one does wonder
Has the chef just made a blunder
Or have those legs now gone astray?
Their absence may cause some dismay

However, I really have to claim
Legless turkey tastes the same
And with the trimmings on display
Such a meal will make your day

Ken Fisher

Clocks Go Back

Clocks Go Back [Sunday 29th October 2017]

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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

Time

Time

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Time is a concept we simply can’t ignore
It can empower us when we have enough of it
It can enslave us if we have too little of it
It can be our friend if we use it wisely
But it has been described as ‘the Old Enemy’
In mensuration it is the ‘fourth dimension’

The coming of the railways standardized our time
Eventually all the clocks recognizing Greenwich
The agreement of time gave birth to the timetable
Not only for transport – in our schools and colleges too
Thus came the tyranny of ‘double maths’ on Mondays!
And international travel can’t ignore time differences

The factory system exercised control by the time clock
And processes subject to the time-and-motion study
Which seeks to optimize all that’s time consuming
Even in our family life we find the need of time management
And thus was born the modern plea for right work/life balance
We need to employ time savers to ensure some time out!

Elite athletes often find themselves in a race against time
Their lives devoted to shaving miniscule amounts of time
From existing records – Electronic time-keeping
Seems to have made us all more conscious of time
Will there ever be a time when humans can run 100 metres
In virtually no time at all?

But time can also be our friend – considering our whole lifespan
On average we have more time to spend on this mortal coil
More time for reflection, even more ‘time for amendment of life’
Thus some of the older time constraints have disappeared
Our lifetime segmented into learning time, working time, retirement time
Although the costs of this may be a personal and national time-bomb!

As the years have progressed we see the influence of time and time keeping
Become more pervasive in all aspects of our human lived experience
Think of the old adage – time is money; or time restricted offers
Or time-lines in historical analysis; or time capsules and time machines
Of science fiction. And when one mentions deadlines we are reminded
of the pressure which time exerts on us so often

And so I could go on – if only I had enough time!
But none of us can go on forever – our existence is time bound
And I am reminded of that great hymn of Isaac Watts
Where he refers to ‘Time Like and Ever Rolling Stream
Bears all its Sons away’. And perhaps the only message to learn
Is to savour each and every moment of the time we have

Ken Fisher

Equinox [22nd September 2016]

Equinox

[22nd September 2016]

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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

 

 

 

The Tomato

The Tomato

[An edible fruit which belongs to the Nightshade family]

 

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You may have noticed my most recent verse
Might make you think I am obsessed
By nature’s gifts of veg and fruit
God’s contribution to our good

Poems of praise of apple and carrot
And unless tomatoes be forgot
Cast your eyes upon this bowl
As these glorious reds I now extol

I am told their family is nightshade
But there is no need to be afraid
These tomatoes are not the deadly kind
And they should never be maligned

So simply admire their visual charms
And far from causing any harm
Your taste buds will soon know the measure
Of a crop that brings you such great pleasure

Ken Fisher