Roberta Writes – d’Verse & W3, Sunday Stills and CFFC

Bjorn’s d’Verse challenge is to write above a pilgrimage. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/09/22/poetics-pilgrimage-revisiting-your-journey/

Heather’s W3 challenge this week is to write an ode to something in nature. You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/09/23/w3-prompt-230-weave-written-weekly/

The two challenges fitted together naturally for me this week.

Ode to a Giraffe

My spirit rejoices, sense of well being restored

Enthusiasm, returning as though never misplaced

Patience a virtue that brings its own reward

Anxiety and stress with peacefulness replaced

I bask in the liquid depths of your calm gaze

Silent queen who uses her voice so rarely

Chewing thoughtfully as if

Viewing life through a rose coloured haze

How I wish I could see the world so clearly

Instead, change has always scared me stiff

***

Oh, that I could derive such simple pleasure

From the action of consuming my daily bread

Absorbing the sun’s warmth as golden treasure

Grateful for nature’s bounty that keep’s me fed

Your gentle expression and swaying grace

Neck swinging in rhythm with your amble

Unworried and totally at ease

In you, trouble and strife find no place

Watching you, my thoughts unscramble

Floating away on grace’s mellow breeze

***

Within the borders of this manmade sanctuary

You are free to follow your natural instincts

No familial burdens to make you weary

Societal expectations, wordless but succinct

Within the boundaries you are free to roam

Unimpeded by responsibilities choker chain

That always pulls me up short

Despite the fact we ultimately walk alone

It is necessary for us to share other’s pain

Obligation and duty not easy to thwart

***

Your environment artificially maintained

By humans who are deemed more intelligent

Yet, it seems our hands and feet are chained

To the way of life that’s our inheritance

I seek out your environment as my escape

From a frantic world spinning ever faster

Core central pillar

Pivotal in the wild and untamed landscape

My soul temporarily heals, avoiding disaster

Nature acts as my life’s tiller

Sunday Stills and CFFC

Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge is animals with antlers, horns and hooves. I am featuring the giraffe that inspired my poem above. Giraffes have hooves. Giraffes do not have horns. They have ossicones which are horn-like, skin-and-fur-covered bone structures on top of a their head’s that develop from hardened cartilage. You can join in here: http://secondwindleisure.com/2026/09/20/sunday-stills-animal-of-the-month-antlers-horns-and-hooves/

Dan’s challenge is where/what/when we vacation. Naturally, I mainly vacation in the bush either at a safari lodge or some other facility that is close to animals and nature. You can join in Dan’s challenge here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/09/21/where-what-when-we-vacation-cffc/

Isn’t this just the most beautiful giraffe you ever saw?

This is a portrait photograph of the same giraffe. These photographs were taken at Welgevonden Private Game Reserve in South Africa.

This photograph is of TC and I celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary at Welgevonden Private Game Reserve in February this year. There is a herd of elephants in the background.

The above photograph is of a Cape buffalo. Cape buffalo have large, heavy horns that typically curve downward and then sweep upward. In mature Cape buffalo bulls, the bases of the horns fuse together across the forehead to form a heavy, hard bone shield called a “boss”.

Roberta Writes – Tanka Tuesday, d’Verse, CFFC & Thursday Doors, The Flower Hour & Sunday Stills

Today, I’m participating in six challenges. I think that is a record for me. Between the new job, my parents and their medical and other needs, and my painting, I run out of time every single week. I do write three articles a week for LatinosUSA and two a month for Writing to be Read and those are of my own crafting, so I don’t feel to bad about not posting personal blog posts as often. There are only so many hours in a week. I have also been experimenting with cakes for my parent’s wedding anniversary celebration next week. My new firm closes on 15 December. I am very excited as I think I’ll be able to create a gingerbread house this year. I need about a week pre-Christmas to do that.

Anyhow, on with this week’s poems and photographs. PS, I am having trouble with WP which is flipping all my portrait photographs landscape if I use a slideshow or gallery format. Is anyone else having this problem?

Tanka Tuesday

Yvette asked poet’s to write about heritage. Sometimes I feel as if our modern society is sadly lacking is respect for elders and manners. The muse brought this poem which is an American cinquain. You can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/09/15/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-82-celebrating-heritage-9-15-26/

Inheritance

often

I tell my sons

‘manners maketh the man’

keep your social inheritence

intact

d’Verse

Kim’s beautiful challenge is Adagio for Strings. I had a tough week trying to solve some complex accounting problems. The muse was stubborn and only brought this when I listened to the beautiful music Kim provided for inspiration. Bad muse!

You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/09/15/poetics-adagio-for-strings/

Thank you for the music but …

music rises

like flames

licking at the edges

of my tired mind

trying

to strike a spark

that could smoulder

burst into flame

fanned by the winds

of enthusiastic

consumption

but

I’m too tired

the spark splutters

then dies

I just can’t

ride the waves

tonight

The Flower Hour & Sunday Stills

Terri’s Sunday Still’s challenge is orange, you can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/09/13/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-orange-you-glad-its-apricot/

Terri’s The Flower Hour challenge can be found here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/09/08/the-flower-hour-47-can-you-ever-get-enough-sunflowers/

Our clivias put on a magnificent show this year.

A single clivia with the sun shining on its front blossoms
Picture caption: Two clivia with the sun creating dappled patters on some blossoms
A single clivia in full sunshine
Picture caption: Lion Scream – a protest cake that was based on The Scream painting by Edvard Munch. The burning volcano in the background and the river of blood represent the Sixth Mass Extinction that is currently underway. This one is manmade and not a circumstance of nature …

CFFC & Thursday Doors

These two challenges, hosted by Dan Antion, just went together this week.

Dan has a new Rascal book out so you can read all about it while you are visiting here: http://nofacilities.com/2026/09/17/rascals-research-begins/

Dan’s CFFC theme is where/when/how we shop. I decided to take you on a shopping tour of a few places in Brussels, Bruges, Bath, and Borough Market, UK (but not shopped at as I don’t like shopping). You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/09/14/where-what-when-we-shop-cffc/

Bruges and Brussels

Chocolate shop with a lot of chocolate on display and a chocolate rendition of Mannekin Pis
Chocolate shop in Brussels
Shop window of Paul's in Brussels showing a big display of confectionary and baked goods.
Paul’s in Brussels
A display of sweet treats stacked into magnificent cake shapes in Bruges
A display of sweet treats in Bruges
Shop window in Brussels with a delightful display of mice families toys and houses
Shop window in Brussels with a delightful display of mice families toys

Amsterdam

A street lined with shops in Amsterdam
A street lined with shops in Amsterdam
The window of an art gallery in Amsterdam. I took the picture because I liked the artwork.
The window of an art gallery in Amsterdam. I took the picture because I liked the artwork.
Entrance of the van Gogh Museum shop in Amsterdam. I like how van Gogh's self portrait is displayed on the door.
Entrance of the van Gogh Museum shop in Amsterdam. I like how van Gogh’s self portrait is displayed on the door.

Bath, UK

People queueing in Bath to go into Sally Lunn's bakery
People queueing in Bath to go into Sally Lunn’s bakery

Borough Market, London

People shopping at Borough Market
People shopping at Borough Market
I took this photograph as I walked into Borough Market
I took this photograph as I walked into Borough Market

Roberta Writes – d’Verse, Bird of the Week, Tanka Tuesday, Thursday Doors, The Flower Hour

d’Verse, Tanka Tuesday, and Bird of the Week

Melissa’s challenge word for Quadrille Monday was xonolith. I incorporated it into my Bird of the Week poem, a chain shadorma (with some difficulty due to syllabic count and word count). You can join in d’Verse here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/09/07/quadrille-255-x-marks-the-spot/. Melissa is also the host of Tanka Tuesday where she challenged poets to write a seasonal pi-ku. You can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/09/08/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-81-pi-ku-9-8-26/. I added mine to the end of my bird poem.

You can join in Bird of the Week here: https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2026/09/08/javan-pond-heron-birds-of-the-week-clxxxv/

Cape Robin-chat (shadorma chain with pi-ku)

xenolith

within flycatcher

family

bright breasted

Cape robin-chat hops about

tail angled upwards

***

I observed

songbird foraging

in a tree

plucking bark

from long suffering branches

home to many birds

***

squawking its

harsh, trisyllabic

alarm call

WA-dur-da

it departed speedily

tail stiff with distress

***

spring influx

birds

fill my garden

  • Orange breasted Cape Robin-chat facing to the left
  • Orange breasted Cape Robin-chat facing forwards

Well, that was enough poetic suffering, oops I mean creativity, for this week. Now on to some photographs …

Thursday Doors

These are some doors photographs from my trip to Paris in April. These photographs are of the Pont des Arts, Institut de France is located at one entry point of the bridge in Paris which crosses the River Seine. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/09/10/bbq-dam-lock-tour/

The Flower Hour

More beautiful wisteria photographs from this past week. They are starting to go off now so this will be the last of them. The purple irises benefited from the rain early this week and are plentiful and vivid.

You can join in The Flower Hour here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/09/08/the-flower-hour-47-can-you-ever-get-enough-sunflowers/

Roberta Writes – Reblog: Artforms and Artists from Around the World – Welcome Home by Dwight Roth and a review

Today I am delighted to host talented artist and poet, Dwight Roth, with a beautiful artwork and my review of one of his excellent children’s books.

Artforms and Artists from Around the World – Welcome Home by Dwight Roth and a review

Roberta Writes: d’Verse, Tanka Tuesday, W3, Sunday Stills & The Flower Hour

This poem is for last week’s d’Verse challenge hosted by Melissa Lemay. You can read other poet’s contributions here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/08/25/35510/

it is also for Colleen Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday challenge from last week which you can see here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/08/25/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-79-color-as-a-metaphor-8-25-26/

Transformation (tanka)

ordinary boats

undergo transformation

dipped in molten gold

poured from slowly setting sun

reflections shimmer in bronze

Picture caption: a beautiful painting of boats on the water at sunset called Egon Schiele, Harbor of Trieste (1907)

W3

This is my poem for last week’s W3 challenge hosted by Michelle Ayon Navajas. You can view the challenge here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/08/26/w3-prompt-226-weave-written-weekly/

Learnings (Tanaga)

I’ve learned to watch skies and clouds

dissolving obstructive shrouds

that obscure contentment’s waves

turning thoughts to anxious slaves

Sunday Stills

Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge is beach scenes. You can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/08/30/sunday-stills-its-national-beach-day-lets-go-to-the-beach/

Terri’s challenge is beach views. At first I couldn’t think of any beach pictures as I’m not a beach lover, but then I remembered the ones I took in January at St Lucia when I went to Cape Vidal at night to see the loggerhead turtle.

  • Moon shining on the beach at Cape Vidal in St Lucia.
  • Moon shining on the water and a larger area of the beach at Cape Vidal in St Lucia
  • Loggerhead turtle making its way down to the water after laying its eggs.

The Flower Hour

These wisteria flowers are my contribution to Terri’s The Flower Hour which you can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/09/01/the-flower-hour-46-floral-abcs-featuring-pq-and-r/

Last year I got no flowers at all. So this late July I started tending the vine. I watered it and fed it with fertiliser. This spring I have been rewarded with several lovely flowers.

  • Picture caption: A cluster of four wisteria flowers against the garden wall.
    Picture caption: A cluster of four wisteria flowers against the garden wall.
  • A close up of a single wisteria flower. Its petals are white and purple.
    A close up of a single wisteria flower. Its petals are white and purple.

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