d’Verse, Tanka Tuesday, and Bird of the Week
Melissa’s challenge word for Quadrille Monday was xonolith. I incorporated it into my Bird of the Week poem, a chain shadorma (with some difficulty due to syllabic count and word count). You can join in d’Verse here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/09/07/quadrille-255-x-marks-the-spot/. Melissa is also the host of Tanka Tuesday where she challenged poets to write a seasonal pi-ku. You can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/09/08/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-81-pi-ku-9-8-26/. I added mine to the end of my bird poem.
You can join in Bird of the Week here: https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2026/09/08/javan-pond-heron-birds-of-the-week-clxxxv/
Cape Robin-chat (shadorma chain with pi-ku)
xenolith
within flycatcher
family
bright breasted
Cape robin-chat hops about
tail angled upwards
***
I observed
songbird foraging
in a tree
plucking bark
from long suffering branches
home to many birds
***
squawking its
harsh, trisyllabic
alarm call
WA-dur-da
it departed speedily
tail stiff with distress
***
spring influx
birds
fill my garden
Well, that was enough poetic suffering, oops I mean creativity, for this week. Now on to some photographs …
Thursday Doors
These are some doors photographs from my trip to Paris in April. These photographs are of the Pont des Arts, Institut de France is located at one entry point of the bridge in Paris which crosses the River Seine. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/09/10/bbq-dam-lock-tour/
The Flower Hour
More beautiful wisteria photographs from this past week. They are starting to go off now so this will be the last of them. The purple irises benefited from the rain early this week and are plentiful and vivid.
You can join in The Flower Hour here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/09/08/the-flower-hour-47-can-you-ever-get-enough-sunflowers/









Love wisteria and irises. They’re here such a short time. Happy weekend, Robbie xx
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Thank you, Jo. Yes, only a few weeks and then theyβre gone.
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Possibly the first time xenolith has ever been used in a poem!
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Certainly a first in the context of a bird. I had to look up what it meant ππ€£
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It’s lovely to see your spring flowers and think of birds filling your garden, as our autumn is beginning.
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I love spring. Thank you, Merril π
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You’re welcome, Robbie! π
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π
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A post with a nice variety of your multi-creativity, Robbie!
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Thanks, Dave π€π©΅
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Sometimes, creative expression comes with a little suffering. But you handle it all so well, we (the readers) never know. Great doors, and I love the flower photos. Our birds are packing up and moving south while the over-winter crew settles in.
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Yes, itβs the change of seasons now. Always a great time for birds. Sometimes there is suffering when learning new things. Lots of frustration too. Itβs not giving up that makes the differences. Iβve never not mastered something.
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I’ve been following you for a long time, and I’ve been amazed at the things you’ve tackled.
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I had to look up what xenolith meant. I think you used it cleverly.
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I also had to look up the meaning π. Thank you βΊοΈ
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Ahh, all delightful, and I have just seen a Cape robin-chat… lucky me!
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Wonderful, Chris π
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I love the flowers, birds, and verse.
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Thank you, Brad
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Wonderful post, Roberta! Marvelous poetry and photo of the bird, great photo of door at Pont des Arts, Institut de France, and lovely flower photos.
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Hi Tim, Iβm pleased you enjoyed the variety
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It was a pleasure for me, Roberta. π
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π
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Well-observed bird poetry and beautiful flower photos, Robbie. Those irises are gorgeous!
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Hi Audrey, yes, the purple irises are lovely this year. The yellow and violet ones didnβt put on much of a show. I guess thatβs how it goes.
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It’s true that many plants have good years followed by not so good ones. There’s always something to admire, though.
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Yes, exactly.
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Fitting xenolith into a chain shadorma and pi-ku is true poetry acrobatic work, Robbie! π¦ You woven the natural bird behavior together so seamlessly that you’d never guess how tricky the prompt word was. Beautiful shot of the Cape robin-chat!
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Thank you. Xenolith was a bit of a power. I didnβt even know what it meant ππ€£
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Haha, you pulled it off like a total pro anyway! πͺ¨β¨ It sounded so natural that I assumed you were an expert geologist! Always a treat seeing how effortlessly you conquer tricky word prompts.
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You are very kind π
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ππ
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A beautiful post Robbie you certainly encapsulated all the prompts perfectly πππ
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Thank you, Willow
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The cape Robin is gorgeous, as is the wisteria. Love the poem. I learned something from it. Thanks for sharing, Robbie.
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My pleasure, Jan. It is a lovely bird.
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Beautiful flowers, and poem. I love Robins.
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love the poetry and the photos! birds and flowers – so complimentary to each other
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Hi Annette, I completely agree
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Creative and brainy, Robbie. I applaud your perseverance β‘
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Thank you, Patricia π€
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Birds are the best part of spring. And I love irises too. (K)
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The flowers and the birds are marvelous even if I do get hayfever π
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I’ve never read a poem with xenolith before. That was a creative way of using that word and the photos are beautiful.
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Hi Thomas, I didnβt know what it meant and had to look it up. A bit of a tough challenge π
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I agree a tough challenge but you came with a great solution
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ππ₯°
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Beautiful poetry, Robbie.Your shadormas are poignant reflections. Lovely gallery. You have a beautiful garden. Great share.
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Hi Suzette, I do love my garden and spend a lot of time along in it. Thank you ππ€
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It is a treasure to have a garden. That’s wonderful, Robbie.
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I think so too. I love it very much.
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I vote with “suffering”! No way you came up with all that without some hair-tearing and hand-wringing. Very nice. Fun to think of spring as I watch autumn creep in. The iris is one of my long-time favorite flowers, so I really love your header and the other photos. Wisteria and iris are surely among the most ethereal of the spring flora.
Of course I had to look up xenolith, and it reminded me of Kerfe’s door post today with the colors inside the glass. A most interesting twosome, yours and hers.
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Hi Maureen, itβs lovely to see you. Some poems are work especially when you donβt know the word and have to look it up ππ
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Amen to that!
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π
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I always enjoy learning about birds from other places. I’ll confess to having wisteria envy.
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I would like my wisteria to be a deeper purple. Iβll have to research it.
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I don’t think I’ve seen purple wisteria, just lavender. I’ll be interested to hear what you find out.
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I looked it up and this particular wisteria is white. It has pale purple outlines a bit like art decor. I will be grateful I have this one and not wish it purple.
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π
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omg this is full of gorgeous photos, an exuberance of beauty, — and that Cape Robin poem with its sharp observations ;this is a keeper π
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Iβm very pleased you like the poem, John. Such a delightful little bird.
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It’s certainly an interesting challenge to keep a poem factual. Which bird is that?
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Love the poem and the bird, the gorgeous flowers, and the magnificent entrance way in Paris.
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Thank you, Jennie
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You are welcome, Robbie.
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π
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Sorry I’m late, Robbie! It’s been a busy week with family and friends! Can I have a little of your amazing energy? It is so lovely to see your spring florals shown in wisteria and irises!
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Hi Terri, Iβm glad you had a lovely weekend. There is no late in the Blogosphere π»
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Love those flags, beautiful! I also love your humour after the poem π Most of all I like how you use Xenolith so creatively.
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Hi Paul, the idea for using xenolith in this poem came very unexpectedly. It took a bit of word wrestling to fit the form into exactly 44 words with the syllable count. A good brain workout π
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Lovely poetry and photos.
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Thank you, Timothy.
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I love your flower photos! Wisteria has always been a favorite and that purple iris is gorgeous!
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Thank you. I love purple flowers π
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Wonderful poetry and photos, as always.
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Thank you, Edward
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Youβre very welcome, Robbie.
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π
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Robbie, that robin is such a handsome little guy, he deserved to get his photo taken and get a poem too. π But those irises… sigh… I’m almost giddy over them (my favorite flower). All those lush blossoms, and such color! They’re splendid. Big hugs.
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Thank you, Teagan. Irises are very pretty and I like all birds.
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