Roberta Writes – d’Verse, W3, CFFC, Bird of the Week, and Sunday Stills

Another crazy week has come to an end. My mother has had a terrible few weeks with blepharitis and severe eye pain. This condition, combined with her chronic dry eye has made her quality of life very poor. She’s been wearing a hat pulled right down over her eyes and the antibiotic cream made her practically blind. Very worrying for me from a fall risk point of view.

I took her to my optometrist at 7.30am this morning (she squeezed her in) and she now has a whole treatment plan to treat both chronic conditions. I’m hoping she will have no pain and be able to read again soon.

TC has also been in India for the last two weeks. He arrives home this afternoon. When he’s not home I have to do everything so life feels even busier than usual.

This is the main reason why my post is late this week but, as I always say, better late than never.

I’ve put a few challenges together again today.

d’Verse and W3

Nancy’s prompt is to write a poem in four-stanzas with eight syllables per line about a hard-earned accomplishment. You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/06/17/w3-prompt-216-weave-written-weekly/

Lillian’s Tuesday d’Verse challenge is Get out your crayons and come colour with me. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/06/16/get-out-your-crayons-and-come-color-with-me/

I’ve been learning colour theory for my painting. I am very happy with the results and will share a new painting incorporating my new skills soon. In the meantime, here is a poem about colour theory.

Splat and that

world of colour theory opens

mixing and matching a great game

drop of red enhances golden

tones that ignite into bright flame

***

splashing orange into umber

instills richness into brown

change like wakefulness from slumber

remarkable shade turnaround

***

smear of scarlet into China white

uplifts it to the palest pink

now white painted sections look right

retraining mind on how to think

***

Van Dyke brown enhanced with light blue

brings a greater deepness to dark

eye perceives subtle change in hue

enriched pigment resets benchmark

d’Verse and Bird of the Week

De Jackson’s prompt is to write a quadrille (44 word poem) about a myth. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/06/15/quadrille-250-mything-poems/

You can join in Bird of the Week here: https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2026/06/16/egyptian-goose-birds-of-the-week-invitation-clxxiii/

My poem is about the myths surrounding the African Fish Eagle which I was privileged to see on my recent bush trip.

The Messenger

know as the ‘Voice of Africa’

its iconic yodeling cry

trails across the blue sky

like condensation from planes

African fish eagle

steeped in mythology and folklore

revered in Bantu and Shona traditions

as its carries messages

between the heavens

and the earthly realm

My photographs of the African fish eagle

Sunday Stills and CFFC

Dan’s CFFC challenge is green. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/06/15/the-crayola-box-of-8-green-cffc/

Terri’s Sunday Still’s challenge is also green. You can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/06/14/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-exploring-evergreen-and-wonder-in-the-great-outdoors/

These pictures are typical of the South African bush during autumn (except for the Country Club one).