d’Verse
Merril’s d’Verse challenge is But no, a butterfly and you can read the prompt and join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/08/04/poetics-but-no-a-butterfly/
Lost opportunity (freestyle)
The antelope stood
pondering the clouded yellow
of the early morning
Stray rays of sunshine
turned his coat
a lustrous copper
Making it shimmer
in the pale light
Stealthily
I reached for my camera
hoping to capture
the glory of the moment
Sadly
a velvet rose
peeping from behind a bush
caught the eye
of the hungry creature
It moved
and the opportunity
was lost
Esther Chilton’s Writing Challenge
Esther’s writing challenge prompt this week is test. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/08/05/writing-prompts-125/
Life Tests (haibun)
When I was a girl of nine, I contracted chicken pox. Within a week, my three younger sisters also went down with the virus. There were no vaccinations for chicken pox back then and Laura, aged one year old, and I were both very sick. I remember the day before the spots broke out in support of my claim of feeling unwell. It was a Saturday so we were all at home. I lay on a bean bag in the family room in a patch of winter sunshine feeling to ill to even read. My mother brought me a chicken mayonnaise sandwich at lunchtime but I could not eat it. Not even a bite. She was annoyed when she saw the untouched sandwich and said I was naughty to not eat it. She didn’t believe me when I said I was nauseous. On reflection, its strange that she didn’t believe me as I was never fussy about food and a chicken mayonnaise sandwich was a treat. I’ve never forgotten that she didn’t believe me. A day or two later, I came out in the tell tale rash and Mom knew I had chicken pox. One by one, the other children got sick and came out in rashes. The rash was itchy and I had to lie in a bath with Epsom Salts a few times a day to help sooth my skin which has always been ultra sensitive. We were all warned not to scratch the rash as that would leave scars. The only good thing I remember about this period is that I missed all the end of term tests for my grade. I was given an exemption from writing the tests due to contagious illness. I still have a few white scars along my hairline as testimony to my having had chickenpox. I never liked chicken mayonnaise sandwiches after this and still don’t ever eat them.
An interesting thing about this episode of childhood illness is that Mom never got chickenpox. We all assumed she’d had this virus as a child. A few years ago, my mother contracted chicken pox at the age of eighty four. This illness was a real test of her resilience and she had to be hospitalised for a few days. Her skin was yellow and she looked like a dried pear. It’s amazing that she cared for four sick children and never picked up the illness. Her resistance must have been good at the time.
white chickenpox scars
reminders of misery
days of nausea
CFFC
Dan’s CFFC challenge is to pair white with any other colour. Here are a few of my photographs featuring white and another colour. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/08/03/paired-with-white-cffc/
Thursday Doors
Dan has featured the Japanese Room for his Thursday Doors post so I am staying with the Japan theme and sharing two doors/gates I saw in Japan in December 2024. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/08/06/japanese-room/
roberta-writes.com 
Funny how are memories work. I’m sure I must of gotten chicken pox as well but cannot remember a thing about it?
How lucky you were to not have to take those exams Robbie! My teacher would of come over after school and make me take them I bet!
Getting It as an adult is more dangerous I believe?
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Wonderful Robbie a beautiful post on all levels 💜💜💜
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Love your poem using the butterfly names… it’s amazing how loving parents don’t always believe a child. I remember having fish and chips one evening, from the shop a real treat, but the fish tasted funny. Both mum and dad told me to eat it, or they would take it out of my pocket money…. I tried to tell them again and sat at the table sobbing. I was sent to bed, then my mum must’ve smelt it and I heard her tell my dad it was “off” …
Chicken pox was horrible, I have a scar on my forehead.. your poor mum, to get it at that age … I steer clear still now as worried about catching shingles …!
Lovely pics as always Robbie 💞
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Thank you very much, Roberta, for this great and touching post:)
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Another full post, Robbie! I enjoyed your lovely response to my prompt.
Your experience with chickenpox sounds so traumatic. I wonder why your mom didn’t believe you. Maybe she was having a bad day. I know I had chickenpox, but I don’t really remember it. I do remember my kids getting it. My friend’s three kids and my two all got it over a period of weeks. My husband and I got our shingles vaccines a couple years ago because my mother-in-law had a terrible time with shingles, which comes from the chicken pox virus that remains in your body.
Beautiful photos, as always!
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Fun photos for the white pairing challenge and intriguing story about your childhood boot with chicken pox. The virus is serious and I’m grateful to not have had it.
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I caught Chicken Pox when I was staying round my sisters because Mum was having an operation and Dad was working. I remember going to a different school for two weeks and missing out on a school trip because I got it. I was so annoyed at the time. Also, it was the only school I felt at home in because I wasn’t bullied.
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I had chicken pox as a kid. My dad got them at about eighty and my brother did, too, in the same week. Too bad they didn’t get it over with when I did. I did go for the shingles vaccine because I don’t want the second round.
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That’s such an interesting story. I’ve never had chicken pox but everyone around me has. Your mother must have had such great immunity. Great pictures, Robbie.
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Sorry, Robbie, about you and your family’s chicken pox ordeal years ago. 😦 Like your mother, I got chicken pox as an adult and it was horrible. But that was in my early 20s; getting it at 84 — absolutely awful.
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