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

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 – Book review: A Peril in Unseen Frequencies by Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Picture caption: Cover of A Peril in Unseen Frequencies featuring a pretty cartoon styled young woman and a ghostly figure in front of an old fashioned crystal set radio

What Amazon says

All-human written. In this paranormal novelette, elderly and rich widow Etha Yates is diagnosed with a heart condition. Her doctor warns that any sudden shock or excitement could kill her — and that she needs a diversion. Her attentive nephew, Donald, who lives with her, gets her to install a new crystal set radio to keep her entertained.
.
Soon, Etha is shocked to hear a voice cutting through the broadcast. The voice claims to be her late husband, Chester. The ghostly voice warns her that soon he will come for her. Terrified but determined, Etha proceeds accordingly.

My review

This fourth novella in the A Medium’s Peril series is a little different from the previous books. Medium, Daphne Moultrie, is on the peripheral of this story and her gifted assistant, Cover Flanagan, is the star of this tale and also the narrator.

Elderly widow, Etha Yates, is diagnosed with a heart condition by her doctor. She must not get overexcited or over exert herself. Etha decides to employ Cover on a short-term basis to assist her with various tasks. Clover’s assistance is over and above that of Etha’s amiable young nephew, Donald, who is living with her and is a kind and caring companion. Etha is very fond of him so when Donald suggests she gets a ‘newfangled’ crystal set radio for entertainment, after some protests, she agrees. Etha finds herself enjoying the radio and looking forward to some of the programmes but the radio has a darker aspect, it is a channel through which her late husband can contact her. Etha turns to Clover to guidance. It was nice that Clover took a larger role in this story and stepped up with some enterprising ideas to protect Etha’s health in the strange circumstances.

Teagan Geneviene has a most entertaining and engaging writing style which draws the reader right into the tale and endears the characters quickly. I liked the character of Etha very much and appreciated her quirks and her devotion to her late husband’s memory. I also enjoyed that the condescending attitudes of her doctor and her young nephew annoyed her. Thank goodness for people like Etha who subtly led the way for gender equality.

This is a fast paced and exciting novella that I read in 90 minutes. It was an enjoyable read and I rather regretted finishing the story in one sitting.

Purchase A Peril in Unseen Frequencies by Teagan Riordain Geneviene here: https://www.amazon.com/Peril-Unseen-Frequencies-Mediums-Book-ebook/dp/B0HKPZ7TH4/

Find out more about this book

Teagan recently featured on Teri Polen’s Bad Moon Rising series. This is one of the answer’s to Teri’s fab questions:

Ghosts: believe or don’t?

I feel like such a hypocrite — I firmly believe in ghosts.  Yet I’m often a skeptic whenever someone else talks about their experiences.  Clover Flanagan, who narrates “A Peril in Unseen Frequencies” certainly is a believer in ghosts.  Although she’s still rather new to her paranormal gifts and sometimes doubts what she’s seeing.  The spirits come anyway though.

Picture caption: A woman seated in a chair listening to an old fashioned crystal radio. A ghostly figure is reaching towards her. Created by Teagan Riordian Geneviene

You can read the rest of Teagan’s great interview here: https://teripolen.com/2026/10/08/badmoonrising-a-peril-in-unseen-frequencies-by-teagan-riordain-geneviene-paranormal-medium-giveaway/

Make sure to visit this link and leave a comment for a chance to win a complete e-book set of A Medium’s Peril (US only)!

About Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Picture caption: Amazon author photograph of Teagan Riordain Geneviene

Driven to create wondrous worlds, despite horrors of the past, Teagan Ríordáin Geneviene is certain that

“The pen is in your hand.”

After a life shaped by the tragedy of losing a sibling to Mµnchaµsen §yndr◊me by Pr◊xy, along with the abµ§e she herself survived, Teagan took that metaphorical pen into her hand. She wrote her way to a new chapter of life with a successful career authoring and editing technical documentation. With another revision that pen took her to the next chapter, working alongside highly placed Federal executives to compose their communications. However, Teagan wasn’t finished. The pen was still in her hand. In her latest chapter she is an acclaimed multi-genre author, living in a high desert town in the Southwest of the USA. Rescue cats, the §coobies — Velma and Daphne, offer unsolicited advice on all stories, as well as the book covers Teagan designs.

This author’s stories range from paranormal to high fantasy and urban fantasy, to various steampunk (and other types of punk), to mysteries with historic settings. In addition to fiction, she has created the Author Tool Chest series of non-fiction works as resources for writers and anyone who loves language. In free time she enjoys conversations with friends, singing karaoke, and playing her piano.

See her book trailer videos at Youtube.

Find Teagan on her blog here: https://teagansbooks.com/2026/10/10/am-writing-and-bad-moon-rising-a-peril-in-unseen-frequencies/

Find all of Teagan’s books on Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Teagan-Riordain-Geneviene/author/B00HHDXHVM

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.

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

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”.

Roberta Writes – Tanka Tuesday, d’Verse, CFFC & Thursday Doors, The Flower Hour & Sunday Stills

Today, I’m participating in six challenges. I think that is a record for me. Between the new job, my parents and their medical and other needs, and my painting, I run out of time every single week. I do write three articles a week for LatinosUSA and two a month for Writing to be Read and those are of my own crafting, so I don’t feel to bad about not posting personal blog posts as often. There are only so many hours in a week. I have also been experimenting with cakes for my parent’s wedding anniversary celebration next week. My new firm closes on 15 December. I am very excited as I think I’ll be able to create a gingerbread house this year. I need about a week pre-Christmas to do that.

Anyhow, on with this week’s poems and photographs. PS, I am having trouble with WP which is flipping all my portrait photographs landscape if I use a slideshow or gallery format. Is anyone else having this problem?

Tanka Tuesday

Yvette asked poet’s to write about heritage. Sometimes I feel as if our modern society is sadly lacking is respect for elders and manners. The muse brought this poem which is an American cinquain. You can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/09/15/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-82-celebrating-heritage-9-15-26/

Inheritance

often

I tell my sons

‘manners maketh the man’

keep your social inheritence

intact

d’Verse

Kim’s beautiful challenge is Adagio for Strings. I had a tough week trying to solve some complex accounting problems. The muse was stubborn and only brought this when I listened to the beautiful music Kim provided for inspiration. Bad muse!

You can join in here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/09/15/poetics-adagio-for-strings/

Thank you for the music but …

music rises

like flames

licking at the edges

of my tired mind

trying

to strike a spark

that could smoulder

burst into flame

fanned by the winds

of enthusiastic

consumption

but

I’m too tired

the spark splutters

then dies

I just can’t

ride the waves

tonight

The Flower Hour & Sunday Stills

Terri’s Sunday Still’s challenge is orange, you can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/09/13/sunday-stills-monthly-color-challenge-orange-you-glad-its-apricot/

Terri’s The Flower Hour challenge can be found here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/09/08/the-flower-hour-47-can-you-ever-get-enough-sunflowers/

Our clivias put on a magnificent show this year.

A single clivia with the sun shining on its front blossoms
Picture caption: Two clivia with the sun creating dappled patters on some blossoms
A single clivia in full sunshine
Picture caption: Lion Scream – a protest cake that was based on The Scream painting by Edvard Munch. The burning volcano in the background and the river of blood represent the Sixth Mass Extinction that is currently underway. This one is manmade and not a circumstance of nature …

CFFC & Thursday Doors

These two challenges, hosted by Dan Antion, just went together this week.

Dan has a new Rascal book out so you can read all about it while you are visiting here: http://nofacilities.com/2026/09/17/rascals-research-begins/

Dan’s CFFC theme is where/when/how we shop. I decided to take you on a shopping tour of a few places in Brussels, Bruges, Bath, and Borough Market, UK (but not shopped at as I don’t like shopping). You can join in here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/09/14/where-what-when-we-shop-cffc/

Bruges and Brussels

Amsterdam


A street lined with shops in Amsterdam
A street lined with shops in Amsterdam

The window of an art gallery in Amsterdam. I took the picture because I liked the artwork.
The window of an art gallery in Amsterdam. I took the picture because I liked the artwork.
Entrance of the van Gogh Museum shop in Amsterdam. I like how van Gogh's self portrait is displayed on the door.
Entrance of the van Gogh Museum shop in Amsterdam. I like how van Gogh’s self portrait is displayed on the door.

Bath, UK

People queueing in Bath to go into Sally Lunn's bakery
People queueing in Bath to go into Sally Lunn’s bakery

Borough Market, London

People shopping at Borough Market
People shopping at Borough Market

I took this photograph as I walked into Borough Market
I took this photograph as I walked into Borough Market

Roberta Writes – d’Verse, Bird of the Week, Tanka Tuesday, Thursday Doors, The Flower Hour

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

  • Orange breasted Cape Robin-chat facing to the left
  • Orange breasted Cape Robin-chat facing forwards

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/

Roberta Writes: d’Verse, Tanka Tuesday, W3, Sunday Stills & The Flower Hour

This poem is for last week’s d’Verse challenge hosted by Melissa Lemay. You can read other poet’s contributions here: https://dversepoets.com/2026/08/25/35510/

it is also for Colleen Chesebro’s Tanka Tuesday challenge from last week which you can see here: https://tankatuesday.com/2026/08/25/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-79-color-as-a-metaphor-8-25-26/

Transformation (tanka)

ordinary boats

undergo transformation

dipped in molten gold

poured from slowly setting sun

reflections shimmer in bronze

Picture caption: a beautiful painting of boats on the water at sunset called Egon Schiele, Harbor of Trieste (1907)

W3

This is my poem for last week’s W3 challenge hosted by Michelle Ayon Navajas. You can view the challenge here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/08/26/w3-prompt-226-weave-written-weekly/

Learnings (Tanaga)

I’ve learned to watch skies and clouds

dissolving obstructive shrouds

that obscure contentment’s waves

turning thoughts to anxious slaves

Sunday Stills

Terri’s Sunday Stills challenge is beach scenes. You can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/08/30/sunday-stills-its-national-beach-day-lets-go-to-the-beach/

Terri’s challenge is beach views. At first I couldn’t think of any beach pictures as I’m not a beach lover, but then I remembered the ones I took in January at St Lucia when I went to Cape Vidal at night to see the loggerhead turtle.

  • Moon shining on the beach at Cape Vidal in St Lucia.
  • Moon shining on the water and a larger area of the beach at Cape Vidal in St Lucia
  • Loggerhead turtle making its way down to the water after laying its eggs.

The Flower Hour

These wisteria flowers are my contribution to Terri’s The Flower Hour which you can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/09/01/the-flower-hour-46-floral-abcs-featuring-pq-and-r/

Last year I got no flowers at all. So this late July I started tending the vine. I watered it and fed it with fertiliser. This spring I have been rewarded with several lovely flowers.

  • Picture caption: A cluster of four wisteria flowers against the garden wall.
  • A close up of a single wisteria flower. Its petals are white and purple.

Roberta Writes – W3 and Esther Chilton’s writing Challenge, Sunday Stills and CFFC

I am late this week with my W3 and Esther Chilton’s writing challenge combined contribution. This is partly due to the fact that my W3 poem did not meet all the stated requirements in the way requested. I bent the rules so I am publishing this with a reference to the W3 inspiration source but I’m not linking to the challenge.

You can view other poets contributions to W3 here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2026/08/19/w3-prompt-225-weave-written-weekly/

You can view other contributions to Esther Chilton’s writing challenge from last week, fire, here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2026/08/19/word-prompts-4/

The Candle (freestyle poem)

The stubby candle stood

in a puddle of its own wax

For 92 years its flame had burned

Occasionally

during times of illness

it had burned low

but always

it had been steadfast

pulsing with the rhythm

of her life’s blood

During the good years

it had danced and leaped

during the bad years

it had twisted and bent

accommodating

the turbulent winds

But, it never went out

On and on it burned

sustained for the last fifteen years

by well intentioned doctors

who provided life sustaining drugs

Gazing into its glowing heart

it seemed to mock her

whispering her lossses

the traitorous husband

long returned to the earth

and the name of her home

her sanctuary

the place she’d holed up

to lick her wounds

and regain her sense of self worth

Now it was gone

sold, and the proceeds used

to sustain her unwanted life

in this place of the old and dying

Those same well intentioned doctors

whose drugs kept her heart beating

withheld the much needed pain relief

not wanting to further damage

her aged and declining body

as if it mattered at her age

She wished on them arthritis

and a long and painfilled old age

She could stop the medications

the end would come quicker

but the risks were high

The idea of an intact mind

inhabiting a completely broken body

lying in a bed in frail care

completely dependent on others

held her back

So she gazed with resentment

at that damned flame

wishing it extinguished

Sunday Stills and CFFC

Sunday Stills is all about mini beasts this week and CFFC is about things we watch. I watch mini-beasts so I put the two challenges together. You can join in here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2026/08/23/sunday-stills-animal-of-the-month-dog-and-butterfly/ and here: https://nofacilities.com/2026/08/24/where-what-when-we-watch-cffc/

A variety of bugs in the garden:

Warning, spiders ahead!