Roberta Writes – Esther Chilton’s Writing Prompt & CFFC & Sunday Stills

Esther Chilton’s prompt word for this week is DRIVE. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/02/11/writing-prompts-102/

I’ve written a Tanka Peunte poem.

Racing Snake

bumper to bumper

three lines snake in; three snake out

not driving – waiting!

constricting coils draw tighter

consideration turns blue

“Drive slow and enjoy the scenery, drive fast and join the scenery.” – Douglas Horton

black mamba slithers

along highway; racing dusk

tyres just touching

asphalt spun out like ribbon

driving with abandonment

CFFC

Dan’s prompt this week is gadgets and gismos. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/02/16/gizmos-and-gadgets-cffc/

Picture caption: This is Michael as a baby with a lot of gizmos and gadgets you get for small children

Sunday Stills

Terri’s Sunday Still’s challenge is sweet. These are photographs of early cake and other sweet creations I made for parties for my sons.

You can join in the challenge here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/02/15/sunday-stills-simple-and-sweet/

Roberta Writes – d’Verse, W3 and Thursday Doors

It’s been a bad week. I ended up resigning from my job yesterday. It is time but its been a hard decision because there are a lot of people I like at the firm and I know they need me. This is my ninth and final resignation. But the cemeteries of the world are filled with indispensable people so the firm will go on. It will just be that much harder for the people I like and respect.

My week reflects in the poem I’ve written for d’Verse Open Link hosted by Bjorn. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/02/12/open-link-401-and-february-live/

Vampirism

the more you give

the more some people take

attaching themselves

like starving leeches

gorging on your life blood

becoming fat and bloated

greed waxing into laziness

while you diminish

energy drained

passion destroyed

reduced to a breathing corpse

Then, they spit you out

moving on to exploit

the next high performer

W3

Svenja’s prompt: Haiga. You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/02/11/w3-prompt-198-weave-written-weekly/

The theme is “Let the overall theme reflect the long-awaited shift from winter to spring.”

South African weather is very different to Northern hemisphere weather. We get no rain for over six months during the winter period and as we exit winter, it gets incredibly hot and dry before the rains come in late October or early November.

My photograph is of a beautiful red rose after a rainstorm.

scorching sun

wilted flowers dream

of spring rain

Thursday Doors

For Dan’s Thursday Doors, I am sharing a video of a building I made in Brussels. The video shows a building with all the doors and windows. The fascinating aspect of this building is that its decorated with bicycles painted in the primary colours.

I am sharing this for my talented artist and dress designer blogging friend, Resa. You can find Resa’s amazing art blog here: https://graffitiluxandmurals.com/2025/01/04/skart/. This post by Resa, titled Skart, features some amazing skateboard art and a poem about skateboarding written by me.

Roberta Writes – Esther Chilton’s writing challenge, d’Verse quadrille and CFFC

Esther Chilton’s word prompt for this week is flying. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/02/04/word-prompts-2/

These two poems are also for Don’t Hold Your Breath blog’s Bird of the Week challenge here: https://anotherglobaleater.wordpress.com/2026/02/10/red-tailed-shrike-birds-of-the-week-invitation-cliv/

European Bee Eater

perched on a branch

watching

waiting

for its favourite meal

to fly past

a bee sighted

it opens

its richly coloured wings

and snatches it

right out of the air

delicious!

European Bee Eater (tanka)

bee captured midair

bashed mercilessly on branch

dislodging stinger

bee eater consumes hundreds

of insects during its lifetime

d’Verse – Flower Contrast(quadrille)

De Jackson (aka WhimsyGizmo)’s d’Verse quadrille challenge is to write a poem featuring flowers in exactly 44 words. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/02/09/quadrille-241-swearing-by-all-flowers/

In the wetlands, the flowers are wild

Unexpected splashes of colour

Against olive or veridian green

Tasty treats for hungry kudu

***

At the Johannesburg Country Club

The flowers are cultivated

Carefully tended and fertilized

Resulting in large, ostentatious blooms

Aimed at decorating and impressing

The slideshow below includes 1. Flame Lillies in the Isimangaliso Wetlands 2. Male kudu eating in the Isimangaliso Wetlands 3. pink roses and the country club 4. red wild rose at the country club

CFFC

Dan’s challenge this week is inventions. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/02/09/starting-with-inventions-cffc/

I’m sharing my photographs from Brussels of Neuhaus. This chocolatier claims to be the inventor of the praline.

The slideshow below includes pictures of Neuhaus in Brussels, Gallery Royal Saint Hubert, the inventors of the praline. I’ve also included my photograph of Neuhaus moulded in chocolate and also three large chocolate smurfs. Smurfs are very big in Brussels.