Easter Morn
The empty tomb, that Easter morn
Resurrection of the Lord has come
By faith a living hope we find
Salvation given for humankind
Ken Fisher
Category Archives: Philosophy, Politics and Religion
Poems whose theme relates to politics, philosophy or religion
The Foolishness of the Cross
The Foolishness of the Cross
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.” 1 Corinthians 1:18
Good Friday – a day filled with poignant meaning for believers
Just the start of the Easter holiday weekend for the rest
Who can unravel the mystery of Christ on the Cross?
God’s Son dying to save us from our sins!
Those who surrounded the cross of Calvary
Gazed with a mixture of sadness and wonder
Some hurled insults, others wept in desolation
Today we don’t even swing by to take a peep
But perhaps we may pause just for a moment
Because after Calvary came the empty tomb
The unexplained conquering of death itself
Death still the taboo subject of our modern life
I wonder if this weekend we will question why and what we do?
Indulgence in Hot Cross buns and Easter eggs might prompt a thought?
What is this all about? Services and ceremonies simply ancient ritual?
What is this foolishness? God’s lightning rod of love
Ken Fisher
The Rule of Law
The Rule of Law
Who needs lawyers? You may well ask
To give an answer, quite a task
The law seems a profession quite lucrative
Its rewards are clearly remunerative
But the Rule of Law is much more than lawyers’ pay
About precepts that control our every day
Our freedom, our rights and our obligations
Legal rules forming society’s foundation
If people wish to live together in community
In ordered peace, and with impunity
From the imposition of others’ aggression
Their rights protected from transgression
They therefore need rules imposed by state
Which in disputes will arbitrate
So when crime is committed or contract broken
Justice will not simply be forsaken
Through history, law has come from many sources
The Common Law and Equity, followed by the Statutes
Rules made by Parliament to govern our affairs
Intended to ensure that common life is fair
Judges too have played their part
As legal interpretation turned to art
Laying down new precedents
With which lower courts must be content
Some European laws are imposed on our nation
These are Directives and Regulations
And all this may change in two years time
As Brexit becomes the new paradigm
Then there are local rules and even byelaws
Devolved legislation for simple causes
Thus we are enmeshed on every side
We must conform or woe betides!
The Rule of Law requires the Courts
Wherein the lawyers do besport
Judges and juries all required
That true justice ne’er be denied
And then we have our worthy police
Maintaining order, even peace
The Rule of Law they will enforce
That’s what their duties will endorse
Thus a whole apparatus is put in place
That the Rule of Law might be manifest
But above all the population must agree
That justice is what they want to see
Equality under the law is fundamental
Exceptions would be detrimental
To its strictures we must all comply
Even sometimes with a sigh
International law seeks to see fair play
Holding nations in its sway
Maintaining law where’er it can
Seeking justice for every land
In the end we have to have the Rule of Law
Or nature prevails, raw in tooth and claw
And to obey the law is surely wise
To sustain a world more civilised
Ken Fisher
What’s on Your Mind?
What’s on Your Mind?
Images of the Human Brain
Have you ever been asked what’s on your mind?
What thoughts, ideas or dreams therein confined
Who would believe this odd wrinkled brain tissue
For science and philosophy a controversial issue
There is debate on the notion of mind and soul
Are they separate things or just one complete whole?
The mind is our faculty for thinking and knowledge
The soul where the spirit perhaps may be lodged
The mind gives us power to act and remember
The soul helps our wild emotions to temper
Some would dispute that the soul does exist
But belief in the mind we cannot resist
So when we are asked what’s on our mind?
We expect a response of a certain kind
At this present moment what thoughts do we hold
Of what brilliant ideas as yet untold
Throughout our life thoughts throb in our head
Begun before birth, to end when we are dead
Much asked of the mind with alchemy obscure
And we are blessed it has such power to endure
So be thankful for your mind and for its health
Source of such pleasure and of great wealth
And if you cannot ensure it stays always pure
At least with the years may it grow more mature
As for the soul, altogether less clear
Custodian of eternal hopes and fear
Yet surely we are more than merely thoughts
The enduring value of all e’r we wrought
Ken Fisher
Fly in the Ointment
Fly in the Ointment
Ecclesiastes 10.1 Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour,
so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour
Do we stop to think when tempted to sin?
A little peccadillo or something akin
To cut the corner, giving less than our best
I am sure that no one would ever have guessed
So that the face that we show to the credulous world
Is not quite so upright, but slightly impaired
‘Cause we are not just as honest as you may well think
In our shiny armour there is that little chink
Somehow a fly has sneaked into the ointment
And the facts are not quite as we would present
In our past life there’s a secret we continue to hide
A fact of which we in no way take pride
So we hope that if this flaw you were to discover
You will accept that o’er time we have tried to recover
And by honest hard work our reputation rebuild
That nasty fly in the ointment now hopefully killed
There is one final point I think we should make
And I hope this won’t cause you any heartache
To wipe the slate clean we must each other forgive
That in true harmony we all then may live
Ken Fisher
Eyeball to Eyeball
Eyeball to Eyeball
Eyeball to eyeball appears to be the common stance
Of TV interviewers and their victims – the politicians
The media moguls seem to think that MPs are fair game
For their verbal assaults and skirmishes
I am not sure who is determined to demonstrate
to greater effect. To grandstand their superiority
In debate, or at least in point-scoring
In inflicting wounds and uncovering vulnerability
Of course politicians are often the masters of the silver tongue
Their weasel words crafted to evade embarrassing questions
At all costs they must not be seen as a boxer on the ropes
So they return the punches with equivocation and obfuscation
One of the popular weapons in these wars of words
Is the use of the impenetrable realm of statistics
Thus by digital prestidigitation they produce from the hat
Numerical evidence to justify or countermand any ‘fact’
So it seems to me that many TV and radio interviews
Have become the arena for the clash of aspiring titans
Journalists exercising their customary power without responsibility
And politicians defending their power while evading responsibility
And one wonders if these eyeball to eyeball spectaculars
Only serve the vanity of the protagonists
Ken Fisher
The Elephant in the Room
The Elephant in the Room
An elephant seems to have entered our room
Surely someone will say something soon
Because its presence is so clearly obvious
Yet apparently ignored by the entire audience
Despite the fact of its enormous frame
Everyone agrees to play the game
Of pretending this tusker does not exist
So speaking of which they firmly resist
The risk of its presence they simply ignore
A course of action they all should deplore
Because this mighty behemoth won’t go away
A solution is needed most speedily
Of course the elephant is simply a metaphor
For a problem we must find a solution for
Like the King’s New Clothes concealing a lie
The elephant too would the truth deny
So let our profession be honest and true
Not sending that giant back to the zoo
And candour can once again resume
When we accept the elephant is in the room!
Ken Fisher
The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
[the legal stereotype of the ordinary man]
The ordinary man is considered to be
The usual chap that you would often see
This kind of guy rarely makes any fuss
Meet him every day on the Clapham bus
This man is beloved of the powers-that-be
The regular guy known to you and me
Ripe for conscription or the labour market
He is the man those in charge want to target
Sometimes accused of lacking ambition
And not all his qualities gain recognition
But this everyday man has achieved prominence
When cited in court by a judge eminent
In deciding a case of alleged negligence
Both the prosecution and the defence
Were asked to consider how this oh-so-reasonable chap
May be thinking beneath his everyday cap
So thus in our legal system it became a convention
That to this man’s concerns we should pay attention
Thus determining the view of the man in the crowd
Sets a standard of which we should really be proud
Because it means that it’s not only expert opinion
That forms the ratio of any decision
But the obiter dicta from the ordinary man’s view
Ensures the judgement can’t be misconstrued
Ken Fisher
Ratio decidendi : the rationale for the decision
Obiter dictum : other words or guidelines in judge’s expression of opinion
This is more like the Clapham Omnibus in the
original court case according to a Law Report of 1903
The Street Evangelist
The Street Evangelist
‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’
Surely these are the words that provide the driving force
For street evangelists, sometimes, unkindly called Bible-thumpers
Those whose urge to proselytize will not be suppressed
And as I edge by why do I feel slightly embarrassed and ill at ease?
Is it because I think that it is vulgar for the sacred word
To be exposed to ridicule, or more likely, totally ignored
The Message condemned because of the ranting of the messenger?
The preacher and his henchmen encourage others to gather round
And just a few pause for a moment tuning their ears to unfamiliar words
Spoken from the King James Version – is this Shakespeare or what?
Words of challenge familiar to us from Sunday School texts
I suppose that in this modern day of social media where many
Voices clamour for our attention, street preachers are an anachronism
But perhaps for that very reason I feel both admiration and discomfiture
Why should the glory of the gospel be retailed on street corners?
Soon enough I turn away but not before I have heard snatches
Of the invitation to accept the saving grace of Jesus
The call to walk in God’s way and to repent my sins
This is altogether too heavy – I skulk off for a burger!
Ken Fisher
Scotland’s National Museum
Scotland’s National Museum
[Thoughts prompted by a recent visit]
Perhaps it is the ancient rivalry between Scotland’s two major cities
Or just some kind of inertia which has kept Glaswegians from visiting
The National Museum of Scotland – situated in the capital
But having discovered it recently, I assure you this is a treasure
Without equal – including the Kelvingrove compendium
In Edinburgh you will find the story of life from pre-historic times
Trace the evolution of creatures through to development of human societies
The origins of culture and art, the inventiveness of homo sapiens
In science, technology, engineering, communication, and space exploration
Man’s fight against disease, and his conquests against his fellow men
The whole realm of natural history is on display from primitive life
To Dolly the sheep and the latest revelations in genetics
And in the human sphere the history of fashion is traced in its glory and triviality
Then on a higher plane the world of ideas, of philosophy, religion and literature
Indeed this museum seeks to encapsulate the story of our world and beyond
But perhaps one of the most interesting things to consider is
The enormous contribution that native Scots (and others educated here)
Have made to the advancement of culture, health, physical science, human endeavour,
And the limitless quest for understanding. Thus we remember the names Stevenson,
Scott, Watt, Smith, Simpson, Livingston, Hume, Burns, Carlyle and so many others
Who sought to shed light and truth in each successive age
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’]
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
Christmas Gifts
Christmas Gifts [A reposting of last year’s Poem. Issued between Black Friday and
Christmas Eve]
Selfridges London
The Three Wise Men – is it them we should blame?
For starting this craze which can drive us insane
Each Christmas demands that we spend so much cash
As in our giving we are ever more rash
We know that it’s time that we all took a stance
And tried to control this needless expense
But somehow it seems we cannot reduce
As the desire to give still seems to seduce
We feel that it’s good to be kind to our friends
So to one and all our largesse extends
But we know that deep down their love can’t be bought
And much reckless spending is really for nought
So why don’t we reflect as did those Wise Men
Who sought out the Infant in far Bethlehem?
That gifts are mere symbols of their adoration
As to that Baby they bent in prostration
Now, as long ago, we need only one gift
As we too our faces to Jesus uplift
Just hearts filled with love for God and for man
Reflecting that glory whenever we can
Ken Fisher
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