I’m a bit late with this post but it’s been a tough week. My big transaction went live at 5.08pm tonight after four days of manic rushing about tying up loose ends and getting all the deliverables ready. This is the end of 10 weeks of hard work and I’m glad it’s done. I have another three on the go but those are smaller and more manageable.
Anyhow, on to the writing challenge. Esther’s prompt was angel. I had an idea last week which I didn’t manage to write up. Then I read Freya’s final post in her Dragon Scales poetry style series, and the following poem came all at once. So, this poem is for Esther’s challenge and is my first Dragon Scales poem. I’m not sure I got it quite right per Freya’s directions, but I’m pleased with the result. You can read Freya’s poem here: https://freyanrites.wordpress.com/2025/12/02/hollowness-verse-7/
You can read other Angel poems here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2025/11/26/writing-prompts-92/
Angel
When I was five, we moved into a house in Blairgowrie in Johannesburg. At the time, it was a typical suburban house with a low wall separating the front garden from the grassed pavement. Mom was very busy with my sister, Cath, you was only one and I spent a lot of time playing by myself.
That Christmas, Mom gifted me some old tinsel which was bald in patches. I could play with it and even cut it up into smaller pieces to use for my creative projects. I made one piece into an angel halo.
I was a good singer and was already singing in the school choir by the end of my first school year. I took it into my head to dress up as an angel and sing Christmas carols on the pavement outside my house.
I remember wearing a long white nightdress and borrowing one of my mom’s glittery evening shawls for wings. I put the halo on my head and took up a position on the pavement on my knees. Mom found me there several songs later, entertaining a gathering of pedestrians who had stopped to watch my show.
Mom was not pleased with me making an exhibition of myself.
bright
filled with light
little girl
dressed in white
a delightful sight
as day turns to night
angel
***
kind
strong of mind
intent on lifting
burden of daily grind
joy pedestrians find
Christmas redefined
angel
***
pure
no marketing lure
goodness still exists
message couldn’t be truer
there may seem fewer
but ills they still cure
angel
***
leader
to spread joy eager
innocence of youth
a child preacher
passion defines each feature
a curious Christmas teacher
angel
***
halo
colours of the rainbow
small, still child
engaged in Christmas tableau
small face all aglow
as people pass, to and fro
angel
***
hope
returns as a trope
all is not lost
viewers walk up the slope
better equipped to cope
there’s no need to mope
angel
***
life
can cut like a knife
there’d be no happiness
if we didn’t know strife
respect the midwife
take pleasure in wildlife
angel
Thursday Doors
Dan has suggested Christmas as a theme for Thursday Doors this month, so I’m going with that. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/12/04/five-years-new-haven-connecticut/
These pictures are of the reception main door at Champagne Sports Resort Hotel where my family spent three days in early January this year. The Christmas lights and decorations were still up at that time.
The picture below is of the hotel rooms where we stayed. Ours were the bottom units.
Above is a picture of a vervet monkey on the gate
Above are a few of the flowers in the garden
roberta-writes.com 