Roberta Writes – Tanka Tuesday, Esther Chilton’s writing challenge, d’Verse, CFFC, Thursday Doors & The Flower Hour

#CFFC, #d'Verse, poetry, Tanka Tuesday, The Flower Hour, Thursday Doors 1 Minute

How many challenges can I fit into one post? Six is definitely an achievement for me.

Tanka Tuesday and Esther Chilton’s writing challenge

For Tanka Tuesday this week, Yvette asked poets to focus on mental wellness or the lack thereof. You can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/01/27/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-49-mental-health-1-27-26/

This is last week’s challenge by Esther Chilton and it was shapes. You can read what other bloggers wrote here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/01/21/writing-prompts-100/

I’ve written an American cinquain.

Shocking

shape of

future events

looming like thunderclouds

electrified environment

shocking

d’Verse – Quadrille

Punam challenged poets to write a quadrille using the word trip.

Road tripping

across South Africa

road starts out dark grey and smooth

toll booths at regular intervals

stop at Ermelo for coffee

see a mountain goat

road deteriorates

patched potholes, no shoulder

plenty of coal trucks

Stop at Piet Retief

restaurants closed, no power

This is the mountain goat we saw in Ermelo. What I took for a window is actually a doorway for him to get in and out of this shady enclosure.

CFFC

Dan’s CFFC challenge this week is up or down. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/01/26/up-or-down-or-both-cffc-jusjojan/

The gallery includes a giraffe bending down to drink and bats on the roof of the entrance to the Huhluwe-iMfolozi National Park.

My video footage of the giraffe drinking and the bats.

Thursday Doors and The Flower Hour

I am posting these photographs together because the flowers photographs were taken at Lodge Afrique and I’ve also featured the front entrance and door to the lodge.

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/01/29/chinese-room-free-book/

You can join Terri’s The Flower Hour here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/01/27/the-flower-hour-15-desert-daisy/

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Published by robertawrites235681907

I am a writer of young adult fiction and poetry

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76 thoughts on “Roberta Writes – Tanka Tuesday, Esther Chilton’s writing challenge, d’Verse, CFFC, Thursday Doors & The Flower Hour”

      1. I follow the Bournemouth goats on Facebook and apparently they all have their own interesting personalities, as do all animals. They run feral goats on the cliffs to keep vegetation under control, but have pet goats for going to events!

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  13. Love the pics, especially the goat one, enjoyed your videos and lovely poems, Robbie.❤️

    Your quadrille is very relatable. On our trip we saw camels and goats too and the road was exactly like yours. 😊

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  14. There’s so much to enjoy here including your interpretation of the word prompt ‘shape’. It’s so apt. I also love the pics and video. The goat and his window is delightful and I’ve always loved bats.

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  16. I especially love the mountain goat with his “doorway,” Robbie.

    It sounds like an interesting road trip. Your bat photos reminded me that I just read an article about a woman in the region who has a bat rehabilitation center. She can treat bats for white nose syndrome, which is a fungus that many bats in North American are dying from.

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  17. Beautiful photos, Robbie. What a handsome chap that goat is. Lovely orchids.

    I once found a bat floundering in a container of water. Poor thing couldn’t take off. I don’t know how it got in there. I fished it out with a stick and put it on the ground to dry out. It was gone later, so I assume it flew away when dry.

    Your poetry is lovely as usual.

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  21. Wouldn’t it be great if there were pools of, buckets of or pockets of water higher up for giraffes to get their drinks from as opposed to having to curtsey to quench their thirst? (asking for a long, necked frind)

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  28. You certainly have seen some interesting things. I do love the goat’s doorway! And you are — unfortunately — quite correct to describe the shape of our future here as thunderclouds. They are heavy, low, dark and rumbling ominously.

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  29. I especially enjoyed the photo of the mountain goat, the bats in the belfry, and the orchid (gorgeous flower), Robbie! The first poem is quite ominous and makes me shudder a little at our future as humans. Thank you for all the shares!

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  31. Hi Robbie, This was such a fun post. The quadrille on your drive was great. I could imagine your ride and that goat looks like his is posing, the window/door makes a perfect frame. The desert daisy is a beautiful flower. I don’t like bats at all. We have a lot of them in Bangalore and they’re the cause of the Nipa virus in India.

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