Roberta Writes – TDWC26, Nothin’ but a hound dog

This is my second poem for Dan’s Thursday Doors Writing Challenge. Today, I’ve used a photograph contributed by Maureen from https://oddments70.wordpress.com/2026/04/30/april-30-26-coping-but-barely/

You can join in TDWC26 here: https://nofacilities.com/thursday-doors-writing-challenge-2026/

Picture caption: Photograph contributed by Maureen

Nothin’ but a hound dog

young people

hypothetical cannon fodder

lead the charge

with artificial intelligence

rushing in

where angels fear to tread

experimenting

summarising

capturing ‘its’ version

of salient details

embellishing the written word

with the soul of the soulless

creating gutless art

purpose of essential organs

missed entirely

by the mindless digital mind

photographs enhanced

excluding the unnecessary

floating heads and hands

by accident not design

mistakes will be made

some doors will open

only to be firmly closed

In the end

progress will continue

some will grasp it firmly

using it to hoist themselves

further up the ladder

others will fall

lying broken and bleeding

at the feet of the demigod

On reflection

isn’t the digital revolution

just a rewrite

of Hound Dog?*

*Hound Dog by Elvis Presley is considered to be his most controversial song. It stands out from all his music, marking a pivotal, rebellious moment in rock ‘n roll history that changed music forever. Elvis Presley’s music was criticized by establishment figures, media commentators, and religious groups as being dangerous, vulgar, and lacking artistic merit. Many condemned his music as immoral and a catalyst for juvenile delinquency. Now, Elvis Presley is considered to have fundamentally changed music for the better by breaking racial barriers in radio and merging country, gospel, and blues into popular rock ‘n roll. He is said to have revolutionised the music industry by linking image and sexuality to sound, creating a youth-orientated culture, ad setting the stage for global rock stardom.

AI is controversial and many people are resistant to its implementation in its current form. I have some reservations about how AI will impact young people and the growth of their mental abilities. You have to exercise the brain if you want it to grow. The fate of the Eloi from HG Wells clever story The Time Machine always comes to mind for me when I think about how AI is currently being utilised. If you are interested in my thoughts on this book and the Eloi, you can read my review here: https://latinosenglishedition.blog/2026/04/30/the-time-machine-by-h-g-wells-by-robbie-cheadle/

AI is a topic of many blog posts. All of the posts I’ve read about AI have interested me deeply. Here are a few links to interesting posts about AI I’ve read recently:

Thomas Wikman from Super Facts – https://superfactful.com/2026/03/21/large-language-models-is-just-one-branch-of-artificial-intelligence/

Grant from Grant at Tame Your Book – https://tameyourbook.com/dont-confuse-ai-with-a-benign-tool/

Rebecca Budd from Rebecca’s Reading Room – https://rebeccasreadingroom.ca/2026/04/28/ai-and-humanity-reflections-from-a-modern-reading-room/

Laura Lyndhurst of Books That Make You Think – https://booksthatmakeyouthink2.co.uk/2023/12/13/prophet-of-old/

Audrey Driscoll of Audrey Driscoll’s blog – https://audreydriscoll.com/2026/04/26/is-this-the-end-of-the-golden-age-of-indie-publishing/

Meeks from acflory blog – https://acflory.wordpress.com/2026/05/01/i-hate-what-ai-is-i-love-what-it-could-be/

Progress shot – Mona Vervet acrylic painting

Meeks asked for a progress shot on my latest painting so here it is … Mona Vervet!

Roberta Writes – W3, Dan Antion’s Writing Challenge, Thursday Doors and The Flower Hour

W3 and Dan Antion’s Writing Challenge

Dan Antion’s Doors writing challenge starts today and continues throughout May. I used one of my own doors pictures because the colours inspired a poem that also fitted Yvette’s W3 challenge to write about a fantasy world (mine’s 22 lines and not 20 – sorry Yvette!)

You can join in W3 here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/04/29/w3-prompt-209-weave-written-weekly/

You can join in Dan’s Doors Challenge here: https://nofacilities.com/thursday-doors-writing-challenge-2026/

Picture caption: One of Robbie’s Doors entries for Dan’s Doors Writing Challenge – its of the lifts at the Hilton Hotel in Munich

Dinah in Wonderland (freestyle poem)

Beyond the door

Dinah sees the colours

Dancing and swirling

Enticing … calling

“Come and play, Dinah

Come and play”

Squeezing through the cat door

She pitches forward

Falling … down and down

Landing softly on

Pink, blue, green, and yellow

Sweet! Her nose quivers

What? It’s candy floss

Between the bright puffs

Pale shapes swarm

Marshmallow fish

They wriggle their tails

“Chase us, Dinah, chase us”

Off she goes

Bouncing from one sugary cloud

to the next sweet indulgence

Extraordinary!

Thursday Doors

For Dan’s Thursday Doors, I’m sharing the rest of my Hilton Hotel, Munich photographs. I was only in Munich for ten hours so this is what I saw of it in the hotel from about 8pm until 4am the following morning.

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/thursday-doors-writing-challenge-2026/

The Flower Hour

These are orange and yellow arum lilies I discovered in my summer garden (it is now autumn).

You can join in Terri’s The Flower Hour here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/04/28/the-flower-hour-28-flowers-in-water/

Roberta Writes – Tanka Tuesday and Bird of the Week

Tanka Tuesday and Bird of the Week

Melissa has provided a choice of a painting by Romare Bearden as inspiration for this week’s Tanka Tuesday poem. You can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/04/28/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-62-romare-bearden-4-28-26/

This is the painting I chose:

Picture caption: Calm Sea by Romare Bearden

This is also my entry for Don’t Hold Your Breath blog’s Bird of the Week Challenge. You can join in here: https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2026/04/28/common-myna-birds-of-the-week-invitation-clxvi/

Southern Masked Weaver (Tanka)

reeds adorned with nests

stretching for miles and miles

Southern Masked Weaver

energetic males building

twenty five woven nests each

Southern Masked Weaver

Roberta Writes – Reblog: Art Quiz – The Impressionists

Art Quiz – The Impressionists

Roberta Writes – d’Verse: Haibun Monday & Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge

d’Verse: Monday Haibun

Frank’s haibun challenge is to write about silence. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/04/27/haibun-monday-4-27-26-silence/

I’ll Take It – haibun

I cherish the near silence of the early mornings, suffering the rasping cough of the kettle just long enough to make a welcome cup of tea. Outside the window, a garden bird twitters and the hadedas screech their ode to the dawn. In a world that worships noise, my love of silence is just another characteristic that differentiates me from my family and colleagues. I’ll take it.

office hum

enhanced by white noise

my ears ring

Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge

Esther’s challenge word for this week is Mobile. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/04/22/writing-prompts-112/

What a Feeling – haibun

When I was a girl, children had a lot more freedom than they do now. My little sister, Cath, and I used to go out and about on our own. We both had bicycles so we had the option of riding or we walked, depending on where we were going. When I was in Grade 3 at primary school, roller skates came into fashion. The roller skates then took the form of a boot with four wheels on the bottom. The wheels were spaced out more like the wheels on a vehicle and were attached to a chassis-styled frame on the bottom of the boot, unlike the modern roller skates which are more like ice skates with wheels.

Cath and I both received a pair of roller skates for Christmas that year and I spent the rest of the December / January school holiday learning how to skate. I soon go the hang of swinging my legs correctly to enable forward motion and quickly learned to add arm movement to go faster. I learned to do spins and turns and how to skate backwards. It was an obsession for me and I spent hours practicing. As time passed, I started creating dances on skates to music. I’d set my small cassette recorder up on my bedroom windowsill and practice skating to my favourite soundtracks. The theme song to Flashdance was the track I liked the best and remember practicing my skating dance over and over to that song on repeat. Thankfully, Dad was out working during the day when I practiced so he didn’t complain about the endless refrain of ‘What a feeling’.

Skate dancing to Flashdance is one of my best memories and it was this process of mastering motion on roller skates that taught me I could learn to do anything if I set my mind to it.

freedom in movement

flowing like a waterfall

my spirit flying

CFFC – Something that took you higher

You can join in Dan’s CFFC challenge here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/04/27/view-from-something-that-took-you-higher-cffc/

Through the window of the airplane at Dubai Airport

Roberta Writes – d’Verse, Tanka Tuesday, Thursday Doors, CFFC, and The Flower Hour

d’Verse, a quadrille

Punam’s d’Verse challenge is to write a quadrille about digging. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/04/20/quadrille-246-lets-get-digging/

Digging for Victory

World War Two

Opportunity for women

To demonstrate their worth

Operating heavy machinery

Working as blacksmiths,

welders, pipefitters, and masons

Driving trucks and ambulances

Serving in the navy and air force

Growing crops and caring for animals

Land Girls, digging their way to victory

Tanka Tuesday

Yvette’s challenge is to write a syllabic poem about sisterly love. You can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/04/21/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-61-sisterly-love-04-21-26/

I’ve written a rensaku poem.

Poor Dad

poor Dad, five females

all talking and giggling

sharing is caring

usually at the same time

high pitched chatter

***

all eager to please

baking challenges galore

father chief taster

but, he mustn’t put on weight

poor Dad, five females

***

phone always ringing

chittering and chattering

boyfriends and girlfriends

parties and socials

poor Dad, five females

***

clothes on the floor

wet knickers and pantihose

hanging in bathroom

makeup stains on the carpet

poor Dad, five females

***

sick in hospital

poor Dad, five females

visit, plump up his pillows

bring sweets, crisps, and fizzy drinks

drive nurses crazy

Thursday Doors, CFFC – View From a Bridge, The Flower Hour

For Thursday Doors, I am continuing the virtual tour of Chateau de Chenonceau in Loire Valley France. The photographs are from inside the Chateau. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/04/23/the-carnegie-carnegie/

For View From a Bridge, I am sharing some pictures of the River Cher from the bridge that forms part of Chateau de Chenonceau. You can join in CFFC here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/04/20/view-from-a-bridge-or-elevated-walkway-cffc/

I am sharing more flowers from the garden for Terri’s The Flower Hour which you can join here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/04/21/the-flower-hour-27-daffodils-celebrate-earth-day/

Interior doors inside Chateau de Chenonceau

Interesting household articles

The slideshow below includes two photographs of the River Cher. The first is from the bridge and the second is from a bedroom inside the chateau.

These are some more amazing flowers from the garden. I loved the shaggy purple tulips.

Roberta Writes – In Touch with Nature: The Magnificent Male Leopard

In Touch with Nature – The magnificent male leopard

Roberta Writes – Reblog: Day 1 of the WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures 6: Seasons” Book Blog Tour – Cindy Georgakas and Kevin Morris

Thank you to Michelle Ayon Navajas for hosting Day 1 of the WordCrafter Poetry Treasures 6: Seasons book blog tour.

Day 1 of the WordCrafter “Poetry Treasures 6: Seasons” Book Blog Tour – Cindy Georgakas and Kevin Morris

Roberta Writes – W3, Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge, Thursday Doors, The Flower Hour

W3 and Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge

Sally’s W3 challenge is to give a nod to another poet. I have based the rhythm and format of my poem on I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud by William Wordsworth. You can join in W3 here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/04/15/w3-prompt-207-weave-written-weekly/

Esther’s word of the week is flower/s. You can join in her challenge here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/04/15/writing-prompts-111/

This poem is another contribution to my Paris Diaries Poems.

Chateau de Chenonceau (Loire Valley, France)

A survivor of the French Revolution

Five-arched bridge its saving grace

Not sacked; it survived dissolution

Ladies chateau of flowers and lace

Due to it’s owner’s quick actions

It’s now a major tourist attraction

***

Famous for its facade of white stone

And spectacular gardens with terraces

Diana de Poitiers lived there alone

The first of its female heiresses

She planted flowerbeds, vegetables

And an orchard before the entrance

***

King Henry II favoured his mistress

Causing resentment by his jealous wife

When he died after a short illness

Catherine de Medici changed her life

Evicting Diana from castle and court

Queen Regent her vengeance wrought

***

The chateau received an Italian facelift

And a grand gallery over the bridge

Catherine was a notorious spendthrift

Living a life of splendour and privilege

Installing beautiful historic tapestries

While France fell deeper into anarchy

***

Madame Louise Dupin saved the castle

Nicknamed ‘goddess of beauty and music’

She advocated the bridge’s use for travel

Utilising her popularity and good ethics

In spring, the gardens still flourish

It’s natural beauty the soul does nourish

Thursday Doors and The Flower Hour

For Dan’s Thursday Doors I am showing you the exterior of the Chateau de Chenonceau and the separate tower as well as an outside cottage. You’ll have to wait until next week to see inside. You can join Dan’s Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/04/16/the-hungarian-room/

For Terri’s The Flower Hour, I’m giving you a peep at the flower displays inside Chateau de Chenonceau. You can join in The Flower Hour here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/04/14/the-flower-hour-26-lucky-flower-shots/

This is Chateau de Chenonceau