Roberta Writes – W3 and Esther Chilton’s writing Challenge, Sunday Stills and CFFC

I am late this week with my W3 and Esther Chilton’s writing challenge combined contribution. This is partly due to the fact that my W3 poem did not meet all the stated requirements in the way requested. I bent the rules so I am publishing this with a reference to the W3 inspiration source but I’m not linking to the challenge.

You can view other poets contributions to W3 here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/08/19/w3-prompt-225-weave-written-weekly/

You can view other contributions to Esther Chilton’s writing challenge from last week, fire, here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/08/19/word-prompts-4/

The Candle (freestyle poem)

The stubby candle stood

in a puddle of its own wax

For 92 years its flame had burned

Occasionally

during times of illness

it had burned low

but always

it had been steadfast

pulsing with the rhythm

of her life’s blood

During the good years

it had danced and leaped

during the bad years

it had twisted and bent

accommodating

the turbulent winds

But, it never went out

On and on it burned

sustained for the last fifteen years

by well intentioned doctors

who provided life sustaining drugs

Gazing into its glowing heart

it seemed to mock her

whispering her lossses

the traitorous husband

long returned to the earth

and the name of her home

her sanctuary

the place she’d holed up

to lick her wounds

and regain her sense of self worth

Now it was gone

sold, and the proceeds used

to sustain her unwanted life

in this place of the old and dying

Those same well intentioned doctors

whose drugs kept her heart beating

withheld the much needed pain relief

not wanting to further damage

her aged and declining body

as if it mattered at her age

She wished on them arthritis

and a long and painfilled old age

She could stop the medications

the end would come quicker

but the risks were high

The idea of an intact mind

inhabiting a completely broken body

lying in a bed in frail care

completely dependent on others

held her back

So she gazed with resentment

at that damned flame

wishing it extinguished

Sunday Stills and CFFC

Sunday Stills is all about mini beasts this week and CFFC is about things we watch. I watch mini-beasts so I put the two challenges together. You can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/08/23/sunday-stills-animal-of-the-month-dog-and-butterfly/ and here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/08/24/where-what-when-we-watch-cffc/

A variety of bugs in the garden:

Two orange butterflies on purple flowers in the Drakensberg
Bee on a cosmos flower in our local park
Beetle on a garden plant
Stinkbug on a garden tap
Butterfly on the outside flagstones

Warning, spiders ahead!

Some sort of orb spider in the Drakensberg
The same orb spider from a different angle which results in different lighting
B&W picture of a golden orb spider in the bush

Roberta Writes – Tanka Tuesday, The Flower Hour, and Sunday Stills

Tanka Tuesday

Yvette’s Tanka Tuesday challenge is Tread with Trepidation. You can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/08/18/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-78-tread-with-trepidation-8-18-26/

This is what the muse brought!

Walking on Egg Shells (American cinquain chain)

I try

to understand

how thought processes work

when they differ so much from mine

I fail

***

My mind

can’t unravel

reluctance to face change

accept and adapt to its flow

move on

***

So I

speak with caution

couch words in cotton wool

walk on proverbial eggshells

slow down

Sunday Stills

Terri has been having a scary time with the wild fires. You can read her story here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/08/16/sunday-stills-tears-and-smoke-gets-in-your-eyes/

We haven’t had wildfires in Johanneburg but I have had scary experiences with wildfires during my lifetime so Terri’s story is close to my heart. I didn’t think I had any photographs to contribute for this topic but then I remembered a couple of photographs I took when we travelled out of Joburg early in the morning a few week ago. The sky was full of pollution from the winter fires people light to keep warm. The pollution in Joburg has become so bad we are planning to retire to the coast. I’m worried about the health effects as we all suffer with coughs, burning eyes and other air pollution nasties.

Picture of a dull gold disc rising above a red, smoke filled sky.
Picture of a dull gold disc rising above a red, smoke filled sky.
A more distant picture of the dull golden disc of the sun rising into a red, smoke filled sky. you can see the traffic on the road.
A more distant picture of the dull golden disc of the sun rising into a red, smoke filled sky. you can see the traffic on the road.

I had a crazy week and ended up working until 9pm on Thursday which through my week off. I also had to take Dad to the hospital for lung functioning tests. The doctor says there is no deterioration but he’s turned into an old man and is shuffling around using a walking stick. No-one seems to have an answer for his problems. I think its long Covid.

The Flower Hour

These are the blossoms in my spring garden. I didn’t do the alphabet challenge. You can join in The Flower Hour here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/08/18/the-flower-hour-44-floral-abcs-focusing-on-the-letters-m-n-o/

Picture caption: Yellow Banks Roses – I love these
Picture caption: Jasmine buds and blooms. They smell delightful.
Picture caption: White plum blossom against a blue sky
Picture caption: I like this photograph of a single spray of white plum blossom against a blue sky

Reminder: Sunflower Tanka Anthology submissions are open until 31 August

Picture caption: Beautiful yellow sunflowers

Submissions to the Sunflower Tanka syllabic poetry anthology are open until Monday, 31 August.

Colleen and I look forward to reading your submissions. I am starting to work on the anthology tomorrow.

You can read more here: https://sunflowertankaanthology.com/2026/08/12/submissions-are-still-open/

Roberta Writes – Book review: Pull by C.J. Finch for Rosie Amber’s Book Review Club

Rosie's Book Review Team logo
Picture caption: Cover of Pull which features what appears to me to be ink swirling in water. The colours are dark and light grey.

What Amazon says

Alex isn’t just running from his past—he’s running from everyone’s.

Born with the ability to see people’s memories by touch, he spends his days trying to shut out the lifetime of traumatic memories he’s collected while he focuses on his work at his brother’s tech company, desperate for some semblance of a normal life. But that proves difficult with rumors of security breaches at rival companies, and the mysterious disappearance of a beloved employee.

Just as he feels he’s about to take a step toward normalcy, a violent kidnapping turns his world upside down. Unable to stand by any longer, Alex must turn to his ability to search for clues in the memories of the people around him to find the perpetrator before the ransom clock ends.

Pull is a mind-bending thriller with a plot that twists and turns, leaving you unsure who to believe and asking yourself… are you one of the good ones?

My review

I reviewed this book in my capacity as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team. If you would like your book reviewed, you can contact Rosie Amber here: http://rosieamber.wordpress.com/.

This is a unique and fascinating story about a young man, Alex Hemsley, who has the ability to absorb other people’s memories when he touches them. This gift is not small and manageable as he does not read flashes of memories but rather every memory the person has. This talent has a positive side as he can ‘pull’ someone and gain all their knowledge thereby gaining a huge intellectual advantage. The down side is he also sees anything bad a person has done. He can also feel the persons dark emotions.

The story kicks off with Alex assisting the police with the interrogation of a suspected child molester and murderer. The murderer deliberately touches Alex thereby passing all the details of his unbalanced and cruel mind and emotions on to Alex, along with all his memories of the numerous murders he has committed.

The story then moves on to Alex in his job as the head of security for his brother, Drew’s, data storage company. Some of the data stored is highly sensitive and relates to details about people who have made information deals with the police in exchange for new identities. Many of these people are very evil and, through the eyes of the families of their victims, do not deserve police protection. Drew’s company and the companies of his competitors, make a lot of money out of the data protection services they provide.

Drew informs Alex that one of their competitor company’s has suffered a major data security break and that information has been leaked. He tells Alex to tighten security in anticipation of a similar attempted breach. The brothers quickly become embroiled in a murder and kidnapping where the ransom is the provision of their company’s data in each for the life of the victim. With the clock ticking, Alex and Drew set out to try and find the kidnapped woman and Alex is pressed into using his skill as a ‘puller’ to help their investigation. During the course of inquiries, Alex discovered another type of ability called ‘pushing’ where the ‘pusher’ can implant false memories into the minds of their victims thereby manipulating their memories, thoughts, and actions. The kidnapper appears to be the mysterious ‘pusher’ but who is this person, and why does he/she so desperately want the secret data held by Drew’s company?

Due to the nature of the villain and their ability to ‘push’ people and override their real memories, the story takes on an unreliable narrator perspective which is very interesting. It does mean, however, that the reader needs to read with attention as there are periods in the book when you don’t know what is real and what isn’t. The reader has to stay on his/her toes to pick up the unreliable parts and where the story changes.

I enjoyed this novel and this clever plot immensely and recommend it to readers who like a book that’s different and a bit challenging. 

Purchase Pull by C.J. Finch from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GTN68QSM/

Roberta Writes – W3 Poetry Challenge, d’Verse – Jump, Sunday Stills and Thursday Doors

David is this week’s host and he has asked poets to write about life changes as follows:

Sometimes life changes enough that something familiar becomes new again.

“Think of something you have experienced in the past, are experiencing now, or imagine experiencing in the future: doing an ordinary thing you have done many times before, but under changed circumstances that make it feel like a first time.”

You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/08/12/w3-prompt-224-weave-written-weekly/

The Same but Different

different

yet much the same

or the same

yet somewhat different

some differences

are better

others

are much worse

is this because

I am the same

and find adjusting

to what’s different

difficult

or is it because

I am different

and others like things

to remain the same

I hope

that what’s different

but definitely worse

can evolve

into something

different but better

and that

what’s essentially the same

but done differently

making it more tolerable

with not deteriorate

if not

my disillusionment

will remain the same

just in a different

environment

d’Verse: Jumpstart your poem

De Jackson’s prompt is to write a 44 word Quadrille using the word jump. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/08/10/quadrille-353-jumpstart-your-poem/

During our trip to the Kruger National Park last week we had the tremendous good luck to see an African fish eagle landing on its nest. It was making its iconic call known as the Sound of Africa.

I am introducing my poem with a video of the cry of the African fish eagle.

Loud, haunting

the yodel-like call

disrupted the music

inside the vehicle

Sound of Africa

ringing forth

evocative and stirring

We jumped. Looked

Encircled by leafy branches

African fish eagle landed

on its messy nest

head thrown backwards

projecting the sound

far across the veld

Picture caption: African fish eagle landing on its nest. I love the encircling tree.
Picture caption: The typical calling posture of an African fish eagle with its head thrust forward.

Sunday Stills (again) and Thursday Doors

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/08/13/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-cathedral/

You can join in Sunday Stills here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/08/09/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-yellow-hues-featuring-ochre-and-saffron/

Picture caption: This large safari vehicle has doors. The reason I took the photograph though was the little silhouette on top of the cab. What could it be?

The little creature on top of the cab in the vehicle photograph is a vervet monkey. This are adorable but also little terrorists who will steal very efficiently and effectively. This one had just pinched food out of the vehicle of a family of tourists. The family was quite shocked and horrified at having a bag of treats snatched out of the hands of a small child. Naughty it might be but it was so adorable with its look of complete innocence as it ate its treat.

Vervet monkey chewing on a treat
Vervet monkey chewing on a treat. The monkey was turning towards me.
"Who me?" a total look of innocence in the dark liquid eyes of the vervet monkey
The same vervet monkey after it retreated up a tree

And for Terri’s golden Sunday Stills a few pictures of Borke’s Luck Potholes. We were so lucky with our timing and the mellow winter sun turned the rocky facings to gold. Have I mentioned that yellow is my favourite colour (grin!)

River running through the gorge. The rocky facings on the left are bathed in golden light.
Close up of the potholes in the rock with a small rapid flowing from the centre pothole. The surrounding cliffs are bathed in golden light
This is a more distant shot of the potholes and the golden cliffs.
This is a close up of the pothole with the rapid gushing out of it and the surrounding golden cliffs.

Roberta Writes – Gowns in Art, a collaboration between Resa and Robbie

Please head over to Resa’s Art Gowns blog for an amazing art display she has put together using photographs contributed by her and me. Resa is a post design enchantress and this post is simply beautiful. Thank you, Resa!

꧁ Gowns in Art ꧂

Roberta Writes: d’Verse, Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge, CFFC and Thursday Doors

d’Verse

Merril’s d’Verse challenge is But no, a butterfly and you can read the prompt and join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/08/04/poetics-but-no-a-butterfly/

Lost opportunity (freestyle)

The antelope stood

pondering the clouded yellow

of the early morning

Stray rays of sunshine

turned his coat

a lustrous copper

Making it shimmer

in the pale light

Stealthily

I reached for my camera

hoping to capture

the glory of the moment

Sadly

a velvet rose

peeping from behind a bush

caught the eye

of the hungry creature

It moved

and the opportunity

was lost

Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge

Esther’s writing challenge prompt this week is test. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/08/05/writing-prompts-125/

Life Tests (haibun)

When I was a girl of nine, I contracted chicken pox. Within a week, my three younger sisters also went down with the virus. There were no vaccinations for chicken pox back then and Laura, aged one year old, and I were both very sick. I remember the day before the spots broke out in support of my claim of feeling unwell. It was a Saturday so we were all at home. I lay on a bean bag in the family room in a patch of winter sunshine feeling to ill to even read. My mother brought me a chicken mayonnaise sandwich at lunchtime but I could not eat it. Not even a bite. She was annoyed when she saw the untouched sandwich and said I was naughty to not eat it. She didn’t believe me when I said I was nauseous. On reflection, its strange that she didn’t believe me as I was never fussy about food and a chicken mayonnaise sandwich was a treat. I’ve never forgotten that she didn’t believe me. A day or two later, I came out in the tell tale rash and Mom knew I had chicken pox. One by one, the other children got sick and came out in rashes. The rash was itchy and I had to lie in a bath with Epsom Salts a few times a day to help sooth my skin which has always been ultra sensitive. We were all warned not to scratch the rash as that would leave scars. The only good thing I remember about this period is that I missed all the end of term tests for my grade. I was given an exemption from writing the tests due to contagious illness. I still have a few white scars along my hairline as testimony to my having had chickenpox. I never liked chicken mayonnaise sandwiches after this and still don’t ever eat them.

An interesting thing about this episode of childhood illness is that Mom never got chickenpox. We all assumed she’d had this virus as a child. A few years ago, my mother contracted chicken pox at the age of eighty four. This illness was a real test of her resilience and she had to be hospitalised for a few days. Her skin was yellow and she looked like a dried pear. It’s amazing that she cared for four sick children and never picked up the illness. Her resistance must have been good at the time.

white chickenpox scars

reminders of misery

days of nausea

CFFC

Dan’s CFFC challenge is to pair white with any other colour. Here are a few of my photographs featuring white and another colour. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/08/03/paired-with-white-cffc/

Zebra foal with white stripes on its black body.
A snowy wood with white snow on a brown tree trunk.
Zebra foal in the long veld grass with white stripes on its black body.
Leopard in the long summer veld grass with black spots on its white neck and chest fur.
Mount Fuji with its white snow capped peak against a blue sky
A mountain village on a snowy winter's day with white snow on the wooden roofs.

Thursday Doors

Dan has featured the Japanese Room for his Thursday Doors post so I am staying with the Japan theme and sharing two doors/gates I saw in Japan in December 2024. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/08/06/japanese-room/

Picture caption: The Akasaka Imperial Gardens front gate in Tokyo
Picture caption: Heavy wooden gates of a Bhuddist temple in Tokyo

Roberta Writes – d’Verse, care quadrille and light and truth of painting, Thursday Doors and The Flower Hour

d’Verse

I wrote for two d’Verse challenges this week but didn’t find time to post my poems until today.

The quadrille about care if for Sanaa’s prompt here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/07/27/q-252-quadrilling-without-a-care-in-the-world/

The second poem is for Melissa’s prompt here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/07/28/launch-light-and-truth-of-painting/. I did choose my own Henri Rousseau artwork though.

Care Worn

For many

marriage ends our carefree days

Financial obligations mount

as we work relentlessly

towards building a home

Children introduce

financial and emotional cares

We teach and guide

these precious young souls

Beflore they fly

aging parents bring

new responsibilities

The circle of duty

Pink Flamingo (shadorma)

giraffe bird

decked in shades of pink

flamboyant

featherhead

thoughtfully contemplating

fish filled waterway

Henri Rousseau painting featuring a bright pink flamingo with its long neck angled down to the ground. The bird is in a lovely garden filled with flowers.

My Mind

constantly in motion

ebbing and flowing

like the oceantides

I like to keep it

well fed with books

and other fodder

I’m afraid

if I don’t

it may fall back

on itself

and consume me

I wrote this poem today after sorting through my work week in my head. It was a good week. I got a lot done. My young colleague told me on Thursday afternoon just before I left for the week that she was exhausted. She also got a lot done because I give delivery dates for work that I then review. I think its a good thing the team has Friday’s to recover from my tyranny – haha! I am getting a 40 hour week’s worth of work done in 24 hours and that takes drive and determination.

Thursday Doors and The Flower Hour

Terri decided to suggest flowers in planters for The Flower Hour this week. Eeek! I don’t take many photographs of plants in planters. Then, I remembered the indoor conservatory in the delightful hotel TC and I stayed in in Paris. It is called Hotel Keppler and was very old fashioned and delightful. I also took photographs of some of the doors in the hotel so this is a double whammy for Dan’s Thursday Doors too.

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/07/30/austrian-room/

You can join in The Flower Hour here: http://secondwindleisure.com/2026/07/28/the-flower-hour-41-in-a-planter/

Hello, and welcome to Hotel Keppler.

TC in a red seater standing outside the Hotel Keppler with our luggage.
Picture caption: Bonjour TC. I like the red seater he’s wearing. I chose it!

Please take a seat in the guest lounge while we complete your check in. (Well, I got to sit, he had to stand at the desk and fill in forms.)

Picture caption: Guest lounge at the Hotel Keppler with a double glass door onto a small courtyard.
Picture caption: Guest lounge with double glass doors onto a small courtyard
tables and chairs on the other side of the guest lounge where you could order alcoholic drinks or, if you are me and brazen, Earl Grey tea in a teapot. The same double glass doors are in the background.
Picture caption: tables and chairs on the other side of the guest lounge where you could order alcoholic drinks or, if you are me and brazen, Earl Grey tea in a teapot. The same double glass doors are in the background.

Two slightly different photographs of the indoor conservatory in the dining room of the Hotel Keppler. It was very pretty with lots of greenery and lovely flowers. The food was very good too.