Tag: poetry

Roberta Writes – W3, The Flower Hour, and Thursday Doors

Fantasy animal sculptures framing a door into a shop at the Cape Town Waterfront.

W3

This week’s W3 challenge is to write a poem personifying an abstract noun. I have chosen anxiety. You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/11/11/w3-prompt-237-weave-written-weekly/

No Rest

“I’m not letting you rest?” cried Anxiety

Thoughts moving from simmer to boil

Each interaction and conversation slowly unravelling

Triumph gradually beginning to spoil

***

And a stray worry comes to the surface

Leading to a fresh bout of fear

Reaching right down into the stomach

Causing IBS its ugly head to rear

***

No-one can counsel Anxiety

Curb the tide of rampaging reflection

The words of psychologists falling on deaf ears

As Anxiety seeks unattainable perfection

***

But only a handful of prescription tablets

Could help silence the raging voices

Sometimes aided by swigs from a bottle

As anguish undermines all other choices

***

In deep shadows at the back of a closet

Stand desperate measures in a row

Codeine, morphine, and some others

On standby to stop the tumultuous flow

***

Waiting – menacing dressed as entircing

Anxiety hears their siren call

Desperation overcoming all sensibility

Crashing on towards certain downfall

***

Caught in an endless cycle

Anxiety takes a breathe, ratchets up a measure

“I will not be defeated,” it declares

Chest tightening a symptom of displeasure

***

Nothing could detract from Anxiety’s reign

It’s tyranny total and complete

Victim shaking, breathlessly hyperventilating

No conceivable path to defeat

***

Pills and booze but devoted servants

Who pay homage to it’s every whim

Aiding and abetting Anxiety’s treacherous rule

Chances of escape very slim

The Flower Hour

Terri hosts a weekly The Flower Hour challenge which you can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/11/10/the-flower-hour-56-fun-with-sunflowers/

Last week I shared orange pincushions from my Cape Town trip. This week I’m sharing the yellow pincushions which we saw growing in abundance along the cliffs as well as at Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens.

Thursday Doors

For Dan’s Thursday Doors I am sharing some doors from The Waterfront in Cape Town. The doors are a side effect of the art but they still count – grin!

Click on the slideshow to view the pictures.

  • Multicoloured rhino sculpture in front of a door in the Cape Town Waterfront
    Multicoloured rhino sculpture in front of a door in the Cape Town Waterfront
  • Fantasy animal sculptures framing a door into a shop at the Cape Town Waterfront.
    Fantasy animal sculptures framing a door into a shop at the Cape Town Waterfront.
  • Ethnic artworks outside a lovely white door in the Cape Town Waterfront
    Ethnic artworks outside a lovely white door in the Cape Town Waterfront
  • Statue of a woman and two children outside the door to the art gallery at the Cape Town Waterfront
    Statue of a woman and two children outside the door to the art gallery at the Cape Town Waterfront
  • Clock Tower at the Waterfront
    Clock Tower at the Waterfront

Roberta Writes – New books: Something Fancy, Cakes for All Occasions available for pre-order and The Last Man available as an ebook

After several months of publishing inactivity this year, I am delighted that the second book in my Something Fancy Celebrating with Confectionary series is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Health issues with both my parents and starting a new job in May this year after a rather miserable ending to the previous job meant that I didn’t have either time or inspiration for writing. I didn’t participate in the anthology opportunities I have in the past. Now that it is spring and my parents health is improved and I am six months into the new job and feeling more settled and confident, I have been able to finish my 2026 publishing projects.

The Last Man now available as an ebook

Picture caption: Cover of The Last Man featuring Robbie Cheadle’s acrylic painting of orange aloes against a blue background. Cover design by Colleen Chesebro

Blurb

A collection of ghost and other dark stories and poems set in South Africa.

What is the curse of the Grande Montanha?
How did it affect sailors navigating the Cape of Storms?

If the walls of the Castle of Good Hope could speak, what stories would they tell?
What happened to the last man at the devastating Battle of Isandlwana?

Clasp the hands of some of South Africa’s most famous ghosts and witness their untimely deaths through this collection of poems, flash fiction, and short stories.

The Last Man, South African History, Legends & Poetry came out in October as a paperback available from TSL Publications here: https://tslbooks.uk/product/the-last-man-robbie-cheadle/

I am pleased to let you know that The Last Man is now available as an ebook from Lulu.com here: https://www.lulu.com/shop/robbie-cheadle/the-last-man/ebook/product-w48md92.html?page=1&pageSize=4

Something Fancy, Cakes for All Occasions, Book Two (Something Fancy Celebrating with Confectionary 2)

Picture caption: Cover of Something Fancy, Cakes for all Occasions, Book Two featuring cakes decorated with owls and roses made from fondant. Cakes created by Robbie Cheadle and cover designed by Colleen Chesebro.

Blurb

Robbie’s cake and fondant creations are extraordinary works of art as is demonstrated by her Lion Scream and Sunflowers Field cakes based on paintings by Edvard Munch and Vincent van Gogh respectively. Other unusual cakes include a life sized guitar cake, a water conservation cake featuring a dripping tap in a desert, and a Covid-19 memory cake featuring the young woman who lived in a shoe and home schooled all her children while doing all the cleaning, cooking, and washing.

This book is intended as a celebration of cake in poetry, art and design, as well as flavour and texture, and includes several of Robbie’s delicious recipes suitable for cake construction as well as unusual cake ideas like a meringue cake with fruit and cream and moist honey cake. There are ideas for cakes using fondant, chocolate, and cream to create the perfect cake for any celebration.

Robbie Cheadle is a poet, writer, and artist. Over the past twenty years, she has created art cakes, gingerbread constructions, and fondant figurines for a variety of purposes including as illustrations for the Sir Chocolate children’s book series she wrote with her son, Michael Cheadle.

Amazon pre-order link: https://www.amazon.com/Something-Fancy-Occasions-Celebrating-Confectionary-ebook/dp/B0HPKL5Z1C/

The paperback and ebook will be available on 23 November 2026.

Roberta Writes – W3, Thursday Doors, CFFC, more penguins and a stink bug

W3

This week’s W3 challenge is hosted by Josie who asks poets to write a poem starting with a line borrowed from another poem.

I selected the first line from Emily Dickenson’s poem, A bird, came down the Walk. You can read this poem here: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56593/a-bird-came-down-the-walk-359

You can join in W3 here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/11/04/w3-prompt-236-weave-written-weekly/

A bird, came down the Walk by Robbie Cheadle

A bird, came down the Walk

It came at a waddling run –

Diving into the bright ocean

And frolicking in the African sun

***

Two friends were encouraged

To join in the swimming game

Wobbling down the jetty

Having fun their only aim

***

Ducking, diving, and floating

Enjoying the gentle waves

Such a pleasurable scene

I could only stand and gaze

***

Suitably cooled and water sated

They rocked awkwardly up the slope

A watching mate breyed laughter 1

At the three tuxedoed dopes

***

Assuming statue-like positions

Basking in the morning heat

Swum out for the time being

Now was the time to retreat

***

But my pleasure was not over

As I set out along the boardwalk

I saw penguins huddled under

And I had to stop and gawk

Penguins on the rocky beach at Betty’s Bay
A sleepy penguin near the board walk
Penguins under the boardwalk at Betty’s Bay
Penguins on the jetty at Betty’s Bay
Penguin basking in the sun on the rocks
This penguin is still moulting and has fluffy winter feathers

Thursday Doors

The photographs below were taken in a restaurant in Hermanus, Western Cape. The middle picture is the door to the ladies cloakroom. The last picture is more of the pictures decorating the ladies cloakroom. The decor struck my fancy so I photographed it and the door for Dan Antion’s Thursday Doors challenge. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/11/05/indian-room/

The first picture is the late Amy Winehouse. I liked this picture.

CFFC

Dan’s CFFC challenge this week is street views with distractions. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/11/02/street-views-distractions-cffc/

Road at the Waterfront in Cape Town with Table Mountain in the background
Road inside Kirstenbosch botanical gardens lined with old trees
Road inside the Waterfront in Cape Town with the clock tower
Picture through the window of the Hilton Hotel in Cape Town of Cape Town Harbour. The highway is running in front.

Stinkbug in the bath

The insect murderer, aka TC, is at a conference in Durban. I sent him these photographs of a stinkbug in the bath and my poem. Had he been home, he would have killed the stinkbug. He wasn’t so who knows where this little fellow is now – perhaps in his bed – haha!

Stinkbug in the bathtub

White ceramic adventure

Insect explorer

Roberta Writes – Tanka Tuesday x 2 and The Flower Hour

Tanka Tuesday

I missed posting for Tanka Tuesday last week because TC and I were away in Cape Town for three days and then I presented training for 4 hours in the Cape Town office before flying home. I met my sister and her family on Sunday and we spent Friday with friends so this didn’t leave much time for blogging.

The first poem is a shadorma for Yvette’s ‘masks’ challenge which you can view here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/10/27/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-88-what-lies-behind-the-mask-10-27-26/

The second is a senryu for Colleen’s challenge which you can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/11/03/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-89-senryu-11-3-26/

Unmasking

alchol

strips away veneers

exposing

true motives

unbridling thoughts and viewpoints

often quite shocking

***

penguins cavorting

dipping, ducking, and diving

toddlers in the surf

Picture caption: Three penguins leaving the water at Betty’s Bay in the Western Cape
Picture caption: Penguin playing in the water
Picture caption: penguin ducking into the water

The Flower Hour

We met my sister at Kirstenbosch botanical gardens in Cape Town. It is a most extraordinarily beautiful garden. One of the best in the world. The pincushion proteas are in season so I’m sharing a few of the pictures I took.

Picture caption: Orange pincushion proteas in the evening sunshine
Picture caption: several orange pincushion proteas
Picture caption: Close up of two orange pincushion proteas

Roberta Writes – d’Verse: A haunting, Thursday Doors & Sunday Stills

d’Verse – A Haunting

Melissa’s challenge is to write a poem for an artwork prompt. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/10/20/a-haunting/

Svetlana Telets, Rain Woman (1996)

Pelting down

in hard, icy bullets

sheets of water

distorting

elongating

shredding fog

transforming tendrils

into shrieking banshees

swooping and circling

forlorn chimney pots

ripping at streaming hair

flowing black rivulets

while beating in anguish

at their broken hearts

***
Cowering behind

buffering door

child stands

ears covered

small, cold hands

blocking sound

holding back fear

desperate not to disturb

mother, who lies

prostrate with fever

oblivious to

devious deceptions

of storm filled night

Edvard Munch, The Dead Mother (1899)

Thursday Doors

For Dan’s Thursday Doors I’m sharing some of my photographs of doors inside Chateau de Chambord in the Loire Valley in France. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/10/22/more-october-doors/

This first photograph is of Chateau de Chambord on the inside as the photograph was taken inside the courtyard.

Picture caption: Chateau de Chambord from the courtyard

The following photographs are doors inside the chateau.

Sunday Stills

Terri is back from her travels and is hosting Sunday Stills. You can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/10/18/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-colors-of-lava-and-black/

Terri’s topic this week is colours of lava and black. I am sharing some of my photographs from inside the Sudwala Caves in South Africa.

This is what Wikipedia says about these caves:

The Sudwala Caves in Mpumalanga, South Africa, are set in Precambrian dolomite rock, which was first laid down about 2.8 billion years ago. The caves themselves formed about 240 million years ago. They are one of the oldest caves in the world.

Picture caption: TC and I in front of Samson’s Pillar inside the Sudwala caves
  • This formation is called Kentucky fried chicken

Roberta Writes – d’Verse, Tanka Tuesday, Sunday Stills and Thursday Doors

d’Verse

Laura’s prompt is for poets to write a Cadralor. I’m not sure if I got it quite right but I had a go at it below. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/10/15/mtb-imagism-in-5/

Bird Love (American cinquain chain)

yellow

fluttering wings

hovering around nests

seeking positive attention

weaver

Picture caption: yellow masked weaver bird in my garden

***

lilac

breasted roller

amazing acrobat

attired in dramatic colour

palette

Picture caption: Lilac-breasted roller in the Kruger National Park

***

sitting

silhouetted

against vivid blue sky

yellow billed toucan surveys its

surrounds

Picture caption: Yellow billed toucan in the Kruger National Park

***

blending

into background

pair of spotted thick knees

prominent yellow eyes darting

around

Picture caption: Spotted thick knee at the Johannesburg Country Club in Woodmead

***

watching

courtship rituals

birds soaring and swooping

my heart yearns for perceived freedom

of wings

Tanka Tuesday

Melissa’s challenge is to write an Alouette. You can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/10/13/tankatuesday-no-86-alouette-10-13-26/

Woolly-necked stork

black skullcap adorns

wig-style woolly neck

atop black judicial suit

reminiscent of

criminal court judge

handing down a death sentence

***

slow, silent hunters

shy and secretive

living alone or in pairs

round water sources

in arid areas

occasionally soaring

Below are my two photographs of a woolly-necked stork

Sunday Stills and Thursday Doors

Hugh is hosting Sunday Stills on behalf of Terri here: https://hughsviewsandnews.com/2026/10/11/sunday-stills-photo-challenge-steps-stairs/

Dan is hosting Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/10/15/october-doors/

My photographs are of Chateau du Chambord in the Loire Valley in France.

Picture caption: Photograph of Chateau de Chambord
Exit into the lavish gardens at Chateau de Chambord
front entrance to Chateau de Chambord
Internal entrance at the top of a short flight of stairs
Internal door in Chateau de Chambord with short flights of stairs

The Double Helix Staircase

The double helix staircase is believed to have been designed by Leonard da Vinci and is the most striking architectural featuring of the Chateau de Chambord. Positioned in the centre of the immense square-shaped keep, the celebrated staircase comprises of two sets of staircases twisting one above the other to get to the main floors of the building. When two people climb the stairs at the same time, they can see each other at intervals but will never meet. The stairs were intended to be used by each of the King’s wife and his mistresses.

The two pictures below are my photograph of the staircase as drawn by an artist and my photograph of the staircase from my visit to Chambord.

Roberta Writes – d’Verse and Sunday Stills

Lillian is hosting d’Verse Poetics Tuesday. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/10/06/introducing-an-eight-year-old-artist/

Picture caption: Art by eight-year-old Azul

What is support? (freestyle poem)

What is support?

Is it imposing your view

on what constitutes

appropriate subject choices

at school and even college?

Is it deciding on suitable

extra curricular activities

that lead towards achievement

of your idea

of appropriate life goals?

Is it forcefully manipulating

your child’s career decisions

citing financial success

as the only criteria?

Is support achieving

your own aspirations

through your child?

***

What is unconditional love?

Is it guiding your child

towards the safe option?

Wrapping him in cotton wool

keeping him protected

from all of life’s knocks?

Is it ensuring

he doesn’t make your mistakes

or any of his own either?

Is unconditional love

letting him go?

Allowing him the freedom

to make his own choices

learn from his own experiences

rise with the highs and

plunge with the lows?

Is unconditional love

providing the tools

for him to build his own life

and live it

the way he chooses to?

Sunday Stills

Hugh is standing in for Terri while she is abroad on vacation. Hugh’s theme for this week is ephemeral. You can join in here: https://hughsviewsandnews.com/2026/10/04/sunday-stills-photo-challenge-capturing-ephemeral-moments/

The four photographs in the gallery below are animal shots taken at sunset in two different game reserves in South Africa.

Three hippos in the lake at sunset
A single hippo in the lake at sunset
Three giraffes feeding at sunset
A single giraffe feeding at sunset

The photographs below are some of my favourite animal and other captures during the day time.

A herd of Cape Buffalo drinking at the dam in the early morning
A mother cheetah and her four young cubs feeding
The dam in the Pilanesberg National Park steaming after a sudden big drop in temperatures
A leopard pausing at the top of a koppie just before disappearing
Five giraffes watching a pair of lions sleeping.

Roberta Writes – d’Verse, Thursday Doors and The Flower Hour

Sanaa’s prompt is ‘Through the eyes of John Atkinson Grimshaw’. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/09/29/poetics-through-the-eyes-of-john-atkinson-grimshaw/

Watercolour city

new-to-me city

shimmering and dancing

under its mantle

of soft cloud and rain

droplets run

water condenses

on taxi window

excitement thrums

to the gentle rhythm

of pattering ran

outside colours

mix and run

on the filmed canvas

of the busy street

mystery and delight

captured in

swirls and swishes

of patternless blurs

on which golden splashes

of enchanting light

beckon comfortingly

Boar lane, Leeds by Lamplight (1881) public domain

Thursday Doors

Below are some doors from inside the Louvre in Paris.

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/10/01/armenian-room-happy-birthday-cathy/

The Flower Hour

For Terri’s The Flower Hour, I am sharing the first yellow rose of the season. You can join in The Flower Hour here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/09/29/the-flower-hour-50-the-floral-abcs-exploring-w-xy-and-z/

Roberta Writes – Tanka Tuesday and CFFC

This is my poem for Willow’s Tanka Tuesday poem which you can read here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/09/29/tanka-tuesday84-feelings-end-or-beginnings-9-29-26/

Spring

buds blooming, birds constructing, hadeda ahead – brooding

bright birds, colourful flowers, creating, spring kaleidoscope

shredded petals, beheaded flowers, weaver – most destructive!

CFFC

Dan’s challenge is to share pictures of places people work. I looked for photographs of work places that are very different from my own office. You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/09/28/where-what-when-we-work-cffc/

People cleaning windows on a high-rise building. They are seated in a open topped cage that is lifted up by a mechanical hoist.
Man seated in a cage on a mechanical hoist. He is overseeing the construction of an outdoor stage for a music concert in Grande Place, Brussels.
Horse and carriage with its driver on the streets of London
Man serving ice-creams from an ice-cream van on a hot day in Brighton
London bus
Carousel with its operators in London

Roberta Writes – d’Verse & W3, Sunday Stills and CFFC

Bjorn’s d’Verse challenge is to write above a pilgrimage. You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/09/22/poetics-pilgrimage-revisiting-your-journey/

Heather’s W3 challenge this week is to write an ode to something in nature. You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/09/23/w3-prompt-230-weave-written-weekly/

The two challenges fitted together naturally for me this week.

Ode to a Giraffe

My spirit rejoices, sense of well being restored

Enthusiasm, returning as though never misplaced

Patience a virtue that brings its own reward

Anxiety and stress with peacefulness replaced

I bask in the liquid depths of your calm gaze

Silent queen who uses her voice so rarely

Chewing thoughtfully as if

Viewing life through a rose coloured haze

How I wish I could see the world so clearly

Instead, change has always scared me stiff

***

Oh, that I could derive such simple pleasure

From the action of consuming my daily bread

Absorbing the sun’s warmth as golden treasure

Grateful for nature’s bounty that keep’s me fed

Your gentle expression and swaying grace

Neck swinging in rhythm with your amble

Unworried and totally at ease

In you, trouble and strife find no place

Watching you, my thoughts unscramble

Floating away on grace’s mellow breeze

***

Within the borders of this manmade sanctuary

You are free to follow your natural instincts

No familial burdens to make you weary

Societal expectations, wordless but succinct

Within the boundaries you are free to roam

Unimpeded by responsibilities choker chain

That always pulls me up short

Despite the fact we ultimately walk alone

It is necessary for us to share other’s pain

Obligation and duty not easy to thwart

***

Your environment artificially maintained

By humans who are deemed more intelligent

Yet, it seems our hands and feet are chained

To the way of life that’s our inheritance

I seek out your environment as my escape

From a frantic world spinning ever faster

Core central pillar

Pivotal in the wild and untamed landscape

My soul temporarily heals, avoiding disaster

Nature acts as my life’s tiller

Sunday Stills and CFFC

Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge is animals with antlers, horns and hooves. I am featuring the giraffe that inspired my poem above. Giraffes have hooves. Giraffes do not have horns. They have ossicones which are horn-like, skin-and-fur-covered bone structures on top of a their head’s that develop from hardened cartilage. You can join in here: http://secondwindleisure.com/2026/09/20/sunday-stills-animal-of-the-month-antlers-horns-and-hooves/

Dan’s challenge is where/what/when we vacation. Naturally, I mainly vacation in the bush either at a safari lodge or some other facility that is close to animals and nature. You can join in Dan’s challenge here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/09/21/where-what-when-we-vacation-cffc/

Isn’t this just the most beautiful giraffe you ever saw?

This is a portrait photograph of the same giraffe. These photographs were taken at Welgevonden Private Game Reserve in South Africa.

This photograph is of TC and I celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary at Welgevonden Private Game Reserve in February this year. There is a herd of elephants in the background.

The above photograph is of a Cape buffalo. Cape buffalo have large, heavy horns that typically curve downward and then sweep upward. In mature Cape buffalo bulls, the bases of the horns fuse together across the forehead to form a heavy, hard bone shield called a “boss”.