Terri’s photo prompt this week is green. Terri also provided a wonderful photograph for Colleen’s weekly Tanka Tuesday so I have put the two prompts together for this post.
The four photographs above were all taken at Fugitives Drift Lodge in KwaZulu-Natal.
The above three pictures were all taken at Nedile Game Lodge during December 2022.
Tanka Tuesday
They float, a tanka
Secrets hidden deep
Beneath bottle green water
Draw the lonely hearts
Attract the disturbed spirits
They jump, then float in darkness
By Robbie Cheadle
You can join in Tanka Tuesday here: https://wordcraftpoetry.com/2023/03/07/tankatuesday-weekly-photoprompt-poetry-challenge-no-310-3-7-23/
You can join in Sunday Stills here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2023/03/12/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-surrounded-by-green/
roberta-writes.com 
Ooh, float in darkness… how cool is that! Of course, the photos are so cool. I love giraffes.
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HI Annette, I am delighted you enjoyed these pictures and the poem. Happy Monday.
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I love your photos and your Tanka 💜💜💜
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That was dark and deep, Robbie, and I loved it! Great poem, and I love the extra photos you shared!
Yvette M Calleiro 🙂
http://yvettemcalleiro.blogspot.com
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Thank you, Yvette, I am so pleased you appreciated this dark poem.
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Beautiful green photos, Robbie. Well done on the tanka!
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Thank you, Jennie. Lovely places to visit. I could have found so many more.
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You’re welcome, Robbie. I can imagine you had many more.
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Beautiful photos.
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Thank you, Timothy.
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I hope the disturbed spirits in your tanka didn’t belong to people who had committed suicide.
I love the photos. What an awe-inspiring place! Around here, waterfalls don’t fall straight down. They have a lot of rocks to navigate.
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HI Liz, this poem is about suicide but few people have picked that up. We have visited some amazing places. Most of our waterfalls do fall directly down like the one in these pictures.
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I thought it was!
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These photos are especially lovely, Robbie.
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HI Mick, we have visited some lovely places at the right time of year.
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Terrific photos and an evocative Tanka, Robbie!
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Thank you, Dave. Peoples interpretation of this tanka intrigue me.
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What a splendid post, Robbie. Green is my favorite color, and each of these photos is a wonderful example of the color. The poem is lovely too, at once disturbing, exciting, and somehow serene. Beautifully done. Hugs.
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Hi Teagan, thank you for your lovely comment. I am delighted the poem inspired these thoughts in you.
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well done! need to wear high rubber boots for those waters 🙂
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Thank you, da-AL. I had a look at your guest post guidelines and thought I would send you a post about hippos and a poem from my new book, Lion Scream which is about nature conservation.
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love it!
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Perfect, I’ll get it done.
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Definitely no shortage of beautiful green scenery in your country. Beautiful … simply beautiful. … and well done on the tanka!
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Thank you, Frank. South Africa is full of amazing and beautiful places. I’m glad you liked the tanka.
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Greens and blues are a beautiful combination. That does look like a place with secrets! (K)
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HI Kerfe, secrets is the first thing I thought of when I saw that picture.
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Beautiful photos and a fantastic poem, Robbie! I love the last two lines especially. Brilliant. 😊
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Hi Gwen, thank you, I’m pleased you appreciated those lines. Dark coloured water is very mysterious.
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I enjoyed your beautiful pics and your Tanka, Robbie. So much green – it makes me envious – although spring is on the way here, we’ll just have to wait a bit more. 🙂
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Hi Barbara, the second set of pictures are in a game reserve which was unusually green at the time. South African has been getting extraordinary amounts of rain. Long may it last.
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Gorgeous photos! The tanka really pulled me into the scene and got me wondering about the stories of the lonely hearts and disturbed spirits.
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HI JoAnna, dark coloured water always fascinates me and I wonder what lurks beneath the surface.
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Such gorgeous photos, Robbie and your tanka poem had me wanting to dive under that water to find those secrets.
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Hi Carla, thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures and poem.
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Really gives the place a mysteriousness that makes it even more alluring.
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Thank you
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You’re welcome.
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Beautiful images.
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Thanks, Craig.
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Hi Robbie, thank you so much for these lovely photographs and the beautiful poem!
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Hi Charles, thank you. I’m glad you enjoyed these pictures. They are very close to the battlefield of Isandlwana I’ve been reading to you about.
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Reblogged this on Ed;s Site..
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This is wonderful, Robbie. This tanka is haunting… reminds me of your short story in Lion Scream!
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Hi Colleen, I actually should have done this as a tanka prose. It was inspired by an article I read about Howick Falls which is haunted by the spirits of several ghosts of people who have either committed suicide their or been murdered there. It was quite interesting as I didn’t know this history.
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Yes! Tanka prose is a great way to share a story and then use the tanka to draw attention to the important bits. Great idea.
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Beautiful, Roberta!
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Thank you, Tim
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I would call this tanka hauntingly beautiful! How ironic that such beauty evokes dark thoughts!
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Thank you, Balroop. A lot of my poetry and stories are dark, I find darkness more interesting.
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Fantastic, Robbie! That waterfall is something else!
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Thank you, Jacquie, it was a remarkable place to visit.
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I love your photos, Robbie, and your poem hits home with a friend of my son’s in memory. Hauntingly beautiful. 💚
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HI Lauren, I am so sorry to hear about your son’s friend. Life is full of tragedy, but fortunately, there is also a lot of joy to balance the scales for most of us. Hugs.
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I agree with you about the joy, Robbie. When I read your words, I thought of the young 14-year-old boy who decided that living was no longer the best option. He, along with my son, and another boy were best friends. We were all in shock. But that was a long time ago. We think of him each year on that tragic day and every day in between. And focusing on the joy keeps the balance, as you said. ❤️
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Hi Lauren, 14 is very young to become so depressed. Michael suffers from depression because of his frequent and severe illnesses. He thinks he’s going to die. He has counselling and is on an anti depressant. I try to bolster his spirits with music and art.
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These are great choices.
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Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed this post.
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