Category Archives: Poems on the theme of Living our Lives

Poems that reflect aspects of thoughts and actions that will influence the living of our life

National Hugging Day

National Hugging Day 2023

I bet you didn’t know, although they say its commonplace
That today’s the day to join in a warm embrace
Because today has been tagged as National Hugging Day
And close bodily encounters can come into play

What is a hug? Other than an overt expression
While all antagonism is put under suppression
Facial close encounters with arms wrapped around each other
Although the parties my not notice that sometimes they might shudder!

They say a hug is a form of endearment
The parties to the hugging suffer no impairment
The close bodily contact and the warmth of the embrace
May not always be reflected in grimace on their face

In latter years hugging has gone international
The British in earlier times may have considered It irrational
But nowadays hugs are difficult to avoid
From international gatherings to domestic scenes employed

So on National Hugging Day let’s see no inhibition
Whether a new habit or part of long tradition
Friend and foe alike in each other’s limbs entwined
Those wide outstretched  arms must never be declined

Ken Fisher

 

After Hospitalisation

After Hospitalisation

 

The trauma’s over
Back to my own bed
Each day no longer
Self-checking that I’m not dead

Florence Nightingale no longer needed
Home service renewed once more
Gradually by gentle steps
Ensuring I don’t hit the floor

Grateful for all the kindness shown
By amateur and professional
A vast array of expertise
Their handiwork thus made credible

Now the long haul back to health
Little steps, slowly I tread
Praying for strength renewed each day
From frailty I might be led

Ken Fisher

Comfort Blanket

Comfort Blanket

 

There are times in life when we are in need of comfort
Our usual confident façade’s begun to crumble
Events have conspired our mind to disconcert
The honest truth our earnest heart would humble

For long enough on this life’s roller coaster
Our tight grip on the reins stayed strong
Of past achievement quite a boaster
Surely such success bound to last long

Suddenly it hits you that you’ve lost invulnerability
No longer safe beneath a protective shield
The unexpected challenge to health or ability
The loss of that long expected bield

It’s then when the comfort blanket brings consolation
Unable to remove the existential threat
Yet to the troubled mind brings compensation
Our worst nightmares we might yet forget

Your blanket may be of many different fibres
Even blended colours might somehow soothe
Our ideas, thoughts, or faith diverse
Conspire their calming balm your furrowed brow to smooth

Ken Fisher

Remembrance 2022

Remembrance 2022

This poem was posted at the same time in earlier years
We hope that this year we might yet remain
optimistic about the future

Today’s a time for remembering
Thinking back to those dark days of war
When life was uncertain for all
And for some, death was an imminent prospect

But few living today have much memory
Of the years of conflict when hostilities raged
And although warfare still encircles the world
Our experience of it is mediated by TV images

And yet we have an uncomfortable feeling
That despite efforts to unite the nations
There is a persistent climate of arm-wrestling
Between the great powers who eyeball each other

The Cold War brought with it the four-minute-warning
Not long to compose our minds for oblivion!
And presently with the continuing conflict in the Ukraine
And other theatres of war in our troubled world
We cannot quite eliminate the nagging uncertainty for our destiny

However, for today, we give thanks
For all those who bought our freedom
And pledge to strive to maintain
Such fragile peace as we possess

Ken Fisher

Audi Alteram Partem

Audi Alteram Partem
[Hear the other side]

Audi Alteram Partem is a very worthy maxim
It seeks to keep an open mind thus avoiding bias
In every interview or debate let’s hear the other side
When hard decisions otherwise readily would try us

But one problem I can foresee in granting equal status
To either viewpoint regarding any proposition
Both sides may not have equal merit
Worthy of universal recognition

In courts of law there’s little doubt
To ensure that trials are fair
Prosecution and defence must state their case
With diligence and care

In football we have observed the arrival of VAR
Intended to eliminate a prejudiced decision
Cameras cover many angles of a shot on goal
Ascertain the true position

But perhaps we have stretched the principle too far
When every journalist’s interrogation
Must ensure that ‘for and against’ are aired
Lest there be discrimination

The advocates of any cause, ideal or belief
Will surely stress the merits of that enterprise
Their conviction dominates their view
No hesitation, vacillation, leads them to rationalise

Of course in our democratic nations
We believe in free and open speech
Audi Alteram Partem deserves respect
A noble rule we should not lightly breach

Ken Fisher

 

Clocks Go Back 2022

Clocks Go Back Oct 2022

 

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

This year we’ve been distracted by extensive politicking
Let’s hope that none of this has stopped our clocks from ticking
Although the shadows lengthen we hope not so our mood
A new regime in Crown and Government may yet still do us good

The cost of living spirals and interest rates too high
Not easy to accept all this with a resignation sigh
But let’s not in the gloom get overly depressed
Why not pretend the future promises the best!

As of Autumn tints and falling leaves we are made aware
Perhaps the commanders of the nations will ensure they all play fair
In their deliberations may they reach a just solution
To tackle rising tides, melting ice, and poisonous pollution

So as now nights darken may we 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

 

Conversation

Conversation

Dr Johnson says “the happiest conversation involves
no competition, no vanity, but a calm, quiet, interchange
of sentiments”

 

It is sometimes said that we have
lost the art of conversation
Our verbal interchanges more a matter
Of unbridled confrontation

Perhaps we listen too much
To the strident politicians
Who never give in or show
Any sign of due contrition

Conversation sometimes becomes
A battle ground
A shouting match, a stair-head brawl
Where every reasoned voice is drowned

Would that we could just
Listen to each other
Hear what is being said
New information gather

Give each due time
To state their point of view
Note the detail
Thus learn something new

Pause for breath, we need not
Be quite so abrupt
Hear the other side
Avoid the constant interrupt

Thus our tete-a-tetes
Will yield much pleasure
If in our discourse
The pace we duly measure

Ken Fisher

 

 

 

 

Curiosity

Curiosity

Curiosity killed the cat
We often have been told
Perhaps pussy would have survived
It she hadn’t been so bold

But cats are not the only beasts
Anxious to know more
Humans also have the need
New ideas to explore

Our nosiness we can’t resist
We have a great desire
To solve the mysteries of life
Our senses all conspire

It’s said that science relies
On enquiry and experiment
If these techniques were not applied
It would be to society’s detriment

The spirit of enquiry begins at birth
From infancy it progresses
Through walking, talking, asking
New challenges it addresses

Curiosity prompts us to seek out
The when, the why, what for?
No matter what the puzzle is
We want to know the score

Curiosity may have killed the cat
But for us, the driving force
Before nine lives are duly lost
New knowledge we’ll endorse

Ken Fisher

See also this poem about questions and questioning:  Now You’re Asking

Mind the Gap

Mind the Gap

 

Mind the Gap we’re duly warned
Lest we fall and thus are harmed
But for other gaps we need watch out
Must take care when we’re about

A gap’s a space between two things
Its existence concern brings
We might trip up or come a cropper
Or fail to do what would be proper

But gaps occur at other times and places
It depends upon the different cases
A gap year in our education
Excuse for unjustified vacation

A gap in our employment record
Perhaps difficult to afford
Sometimes viewed with suspicion
When we seek a new position

A gap might just be an interlude
A mother bringing up her brood
Or perhaps a choice just to escape
Our life’s trajectory reshape

Perhaps we all deserve a gap, a breather
Respite from work, enjoy good weather
A four-day working week is now in favour
Let us all that freedom savour

Whether your longed-for gap is an intermission
Some danger needing recognition
Or some other snag or trap
It’s always best to Mind the Gap!

Ken Fisher

 

Now You’re Asking

Now You’re Asking
Questions, Questions, Endless Questions!

From infant days to venerable age
Life emulates a question mark
Who can explain, or justify
Or change our view to light from dark?

The tiny tot who’s learned to talk
Asks Why? perpetually
Won’t be turned off till we explain
Our answer truthfully

Throughout our schooling
Endless questions tax our brain
Knowledge ranges far and wide
From common to arcane

Then as we progress to learning
Of an even higher order
Questions turning more obscure
Might our peace disorder

In the world of work
Questions never ending
What choice to make, what problem solve?
Dilemmas never-ending

In social life we can’t escape
The questions that arise
To wed or not, or fly solo
With whom to fraternize

And so it goes, throughout our life
With questions we’re lambasted
In politics, religion, science or art
We can be flabbergasted!

Questions can sometimes be used
As  weapons against others
Journalists, lawyers, inquisitors, even
To their offending offspring, by their mother

It appears that none of us
Can dodge being interrogated
To supply the answers each of us
Feels duly obligated

So there we are throughout our life
We respond “now you’re asking”
When confronted by a tough query
Our ignorance we are masking

Ken Fisher

Quiet Quitting

Quiet Quitting

Apparently there is a new trend
Which might suggest you’re now a rebel
Where you are indeed present at work
But have taken your foot off the pedal

You have not handed in your notice
And still expect you will be paid
But your productivity has sagged
There’s minimum effort being displayed

Perhaps all this is due to the pandemic
When WFH* provided all the cover
For workers to minimise their effort
Concealed so the boss might not discover

This set me wondering if quiet quitting
Might apply to  any other endeavours
Where we may discretely withdraw
From our engagement in whatsoever

Quietly quitting requires no histrionics
No dramatic overplay of emotion
No embarrassing knee-jerk reaction
As we bring an end to our devotion

Perhaps we could just quietly quit
From allegiances we now disparage
The golf club, the Church, our social circle
In extreme cases even your marriage?

I am not advocating anything rash
But quiet quitting might be the solution
For gentle withdrawal from all that would irk
A painless retreat, not revolution

Ken Fisher

  • WFH Working From Home

Homage

Homage

A sombre mood
With eyes downcast
The world attests
To what has passed

The sovereign’s reign
Is now complete
Her subjects mourn in
Cathedral as in street

Around the globe
Most recognise
Her virtues
And her counsel wise

The good and great
In equal measure
Salute that life
Of given treasure

The snaking queues approach
The catafalque with due respect
Each mourner with their own tribute
In silence, on her life reflect

The funeral pending
In all our hearts
Final farewell
Our gracious lady thus departs

The world’s leaders
Along with those of lesser station
Together to commemorate
In their homage acclamation

Ken Fisher