David is this week’s host and he has asked poets to write about life changes as follows:
Sometimes life changes enough that something familiar becomes new again.
“Think of something you have experienced in the past, are experiencing now, or imagine experiencing in the future: doing an ordinary thing you have done many times before, but under changed circumstances that make it feel like a first time.”
You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/08/12/w3-prompt-224-weave-written-weekly/
The Same but Different
different
yet much the same
or the same
yet somewhat different
some differences
are better
others
are much worse
is this because
I am the same
and find adjusting
to what’s different
difficult
or is it because
I am different
and others like things
to remain the same
I hope
that what’s different
but definitely worse
can evolve
into something
different but better
and that
what’s essentially the same
but done differently
making it more tolerable
with not deteriorate
if not
my disillusionment
will remain the same
just in a different
environment
d’Verse: Jumpstart your poem
De Jackson’s prompt is to write a 44 word Quadrille using the word jump. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/08/10/quadrille-353-jumpstart-your-poem/
During our trip to the Kruger National Park last week we had the tremendous good luck to see an African fish eagle landing on its nest. It was making its iconic call known as the Sound of Africa.
I am introducing my poem with a video of the cry of the African fish eagle.
Loud, haunting
the yodel-like call
disrupted the music
inside the vehicle
Sound of Africa
ringing forth
evocative and stirring
We stopped. Looked
Encircled by leafy branches
African fish eagle landed
on its messy nest
head thrown backwards
projecting the sound
far across the veld
Sunday Stills (again) and Thursday Doors
You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/08/13/a-funny-thing-happened-on-the-way-to-the-cathedral/
You can join in Sunday Stills here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/08/09/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-yellow-hues-featuring-ochre-and-saffron/
The little creature on top of the cab in the vehicle photograph is a vervet monkey. This are adorable but also little terrorists who will steal very efficiently and effectively. This one had just pinched food out of the vehicle of a family of tourists. The family was quite shocked and horrified at having a bag of treats snatched out of the hands of a small child. Naughty it might be but it was so adorable with its look of complete innocence as it ate its treat.
And for Terri’s golden Sunday Stills a few pictures of Borke’s Luck Potholes. We were so lucky with our timing and the mellow winter sun turned the rocky facings to gold. Have I mentioned that yellow is my favourite colour (grin!)
roberta-writes.com 
Thank you, Roberta. Please note, I always enjoy reading your column, even if I ‘m unable to click a “like” (due to the spirals of exhaustion WORD creates for me) or because I’m unable to squeeze in the time.
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Thank you, Roberta. Please note, I always enjoy reading your column, even if I ‘m unable to click a “like” (due to the spirals of exhaustion WORD creates for me) or because I’m unable to squeeze in the time. Please note, too, that the State of Oregon, where I live, has had the WORST AIR QUALITY (especially from air particulates regional fires created) in the ENTIRE WORLD (ABC broadcast). Although the worst air appears to have past for now, because I have asthma and allergies to dust and fungus mold, I’ve had difficulty breathing (even with inhalers). That appears to have improve–so I hope I’ll be able to complete my September column now! (Otherwise I’d try the poetry challenge you posted. It sounds engaging.) And hey! This month, WORD is allowing me to post a “like” and log-in more easily. (In the past, it ran me in circles to do so.)
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Hi Lindsey, I am sorry to hear the air quality is so bad where you are. I understand chronic asthma as my younger son is a fellow sufferer. He has been sick for two weeks with an on-going virus. I hope you will feel better soon. I’m delighted you enjoy my posts 💙
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Love your poems Robbie especially the first one.
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Thank you, Sadje
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You’re most welcome
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Really liked your poem with the same, different and the marvelous play on words and change and adapting
Also/ the monkey is cute and that must have been scary to have a child get their treat snatched up
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Thank you, Yvette. I’m pleased you like the poem. Yes, the naughty vervets do scare people.
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I hope not about the disillusionment.
Such great photos! The capture of the eagle is so wonderful! The bald eagles here seldom call or make any sounds, but it’s such a strange sound to hear when they do (and does help you locate them if they’re in a tree).
Those golden rocks are gorgeous!!
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Time will tell how things pan out. Nothing worth doing has ever come to me easily. Writing, art, work, it all takes great effort 🌸
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💙
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Entertaining and thought provoking. My mind is whirring with the differences and similarities in my life recently and if it is all real or perception and perception real… (I think I need coffee now) Love it ALL, Robbie!!
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Hi Annette, it is enough to make the mind whirl 🤗🥰
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Nice poems and wonderful pictures.
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I’m glad you like them, Andrew.
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That vervet monkey is so beautiful even if it is a little thief!
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Those pictures are gorgeous. Reminiscent of Zion’s National Park over here. And the monkey is a good actor.
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Nice verse Robbie, and I love the photos of the eagle, monkey, and rock formations.
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I love the eagle video and pics. The following lines from the first poem are exactly why I left my day job career five years before I’d planned to:
“my disillusionment
will remain the same
just in a different
environment”
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Oh, how lovely… really lovely! A wonderful fish eagle and a sweet vervet monkey (I think I know both of them, and very well too).
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Robbie I feel this is strong because you use simple, stark language to capture the relatable internal tug-of-war between personal identity, external change and emotional burnout – great writing 🙌
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Wonderful poems and photos. I love the eagle, and the landscapes are fantastic. That’s an incredible gorge.
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Your meaningful poetry, The Same but Different, is great, Roberta. The fish eagle’s call is iconic, and your poetry describes it wonderfully. Your great pictures of the vervet monkey thief make it look very interesting and your pictures of Borke’s Luck Potholes are marvelous.
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