Thank you to Marsha Ingrao for featuring my poem, To Paint is to Live and my painting, Waterfall, for her August SCD Poetry Day alongside a wonderful poem by Selma Martin.
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:
Warning, spiders ahead!
Roberta Writes – Reblog: In Touch with Nature – The Vulnerable Southern Ground Hornbill
Thanks for hosting, Kaye Lynne Booth.
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.
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/
Reminder: Sunflower Tanka Anthology submissions are open until 31 August
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
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
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/
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.
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!)
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!
Roberta Writes – Reblog: My thoughts on Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
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/
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/
Roberta Writes – Artforms and Artists from Around the World: An introduction to Terri Webster Schrandt
Please head on over to LatinosUSA for my interview with blogger and photograph Terri Webster Schrandt.
roberta-writes.com 