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

Punam’s d’Verse Poetics Tuesday prompt is Looking back. This freestyle poem is a synopsis of my year.

Sandwich Filling (freestyle poem)

January starts with

an international bond offering

long workdays interspersed

with school collections

Dad, aka au pair, continues

in a rapid downward health spiral

until he reaches a bed bound state

culminating in a series of tests

during a three-day hospitalisation

pulmonary hypertension the diagnosis

untreatable as a condition but

continuous positive airway pressure machine

restores a level of normalcy

***

February, a month of conflict

with legal advisors and underwriters

everyone in my house

succumbs to the latest flu bug

lazily doing the rounds

and laying people low

birthday trip nearly ruined

but I gulp down pills

and try to make the most

of splendid leopard sightings

returning home to work chaos

and a very sick mother

***

March kicks off with Mom

on her fourth antibiotic

I leave my team to manage

bond closure best they can

and rush Mom to the ER

where she is admitted with

pneumonia and a fractured rib

fortune smiles and 24-hour delay

enables me to pick up work pieces

I can’t visit Mom as issuance must close

guilt wrestles relief as colleagues celebrate

***

Sinus operation in early April

much worse than expected

doctor drills a drainage hole

through bone and cartilage

recovery long and difficult

ten full days off work

yet sick leave far too short

I struggle to regain my strength

restorative trip to bush

fraught with unseasonal cold

but I got exceptional misty shots

***

May, a most unhappy month

fall out with work colleague

lack of appreciation soul destroying

I contemplate my future

while absorbing Buddist philosophies

on coping and disengaging

they don’t help me at all

is it time for me to retire?

I finish my buffalo painting

Perhaps I’ll have an exhibition

***

June passes in a flash

both sons writing mid-year exams

stress levels high at home

disillusionment with work increases

TC escapes it all, as usual

a week working in Cape Town

followed by two weeks in Amsterdam

as I hold the home together alone

he offers a holiday in London

and a few days in Brussels

as a peace offering

I take Michael with me

***

July is fabulous

London is vibrant and busy

we visit art galleries and pubs

tour of Flanders cemeteries

bucket item ticked off

horror of World War 1

mitigated by visit to Bruge

and chocolate tour in Brussels

we leave Europe to its summer

and return home to deep winter

***

August is a busy month

final school year dance

students decked out

in eveningwear and finery

champagne corks pop

celebration swings to examinations

preliminary exams followed by finals

days and days of anxiety and stress

24-hour art examination

Michael produces a masterpiece

***

work agitation settles down in September

for once promises made are kept

I feel more settled and happier

maybe I’ll last the further five years

my company is hoping for

I’m not committing though

hope always brings disappointment

Mom finally seems to be rallying

after six months of poor health

she’s so tiny and frail

I’m afraid she’ll disappear down drain

along with the bath water

perhaps I should make her shower

***

October filled with work challenges

another bloody bond issuance

my least favourite of all transactions

lots of lawyers and advisors

this one fraught with challenges

and a team new to these deals

coaching and training take on

a whole new meaning

both boys writing examinations

TC swans off to Japan

for two weeks of work and play

***

November, the heavens open

it rains day and night

the rain in Spain

takes up permanent residence

in South Africa

will the sun ever shine again?

the latest bond finally closes

on the last working day of the month

no rest for the wicked

as year-end rush commences

Michael has three visits to the hospital

and Dad has one

***

December arrives at last

with its promise of yearend shutdown

here I am, practically alone,

holding the fort and resolving

last minute catastrophes

the office shuts tomorrow

will it end, I wonder?

at least there is Christmas

something to look forward to

lots of good food and company

and a holiday to the bush

to watch the turtles hatching

watch this space!

CFFC

Dan’s CFFC prompt is Summer and Winter. You can join in CFFC here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/12/15/cffc-a-look-back-one-year/.

I’m combining CFFC with Thursday Doors this week. You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/12/18/more-christmas-from-osv/

These are photographs of paintings by Vincent van Gogh taken by me at the van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

It is the amazing Rebecca Budd who inspired me to share my photographs of van Gogh’s paintings. You can find Rebecca in her Reading Room here: https://rebeccasreadingroom.ca/2025/12/16/jane-austen-at-250-emma-and-the-art-of-missteps/

Picture caption: A winter scene painted by van Gogh. This is the only winter painting I photographed.

Picture caption: This picture is a harvest painting by van Gogh so probably autumn. Oh well!

Picture caption: This painting is definitely summer. I really liked it.

Picture caption: This is the cabinet owned by Vincent’s brother, Theo. It is where Theo stored all his letters from Vincent. Lots of doors on this beautiful cabinet.

The Flower Hour

I’ve been saving these red roses for Christmas. You can join in Terri’s The Flower Hour here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2025/12/16/the-flower-hour-11-last-chance-holiday-florals/

I was trying to be artistic with the sun on the raindrops.

Roberta Writes – Reblog: In Touch With Nature – Golden Orb Spiders #spiders #southafrica #wildlife

Picture caption: close up of a Golden Orb Spider. You can clearly see the orb in the centre and the golden thread

Spiders get a lot of negative press everywhere. Recently, there have been a number of poems about spiders on WordPress and all of them paint spiders as scary creatures which do much harm to humans. I decided to write this post as a tribute to spiders which actually do a lot of good in this world. There are some venomous spiders, but these are in the minority. Thousands of spiders die at the hand of humans due to ignorance and unfounded fear.

The spider I am focusing on for this post is the South African Golden Orb Spider. From March to May, the Golden Orb Spider is an outstanding feature of the NorthWest province in South Africa. Hundreds of these large spiders can be seen everywhere, spinning and guarding their webs, and doing what spiders do which is catching and consuming prey, usually insects, and reproducing.

The female of this species is 1,000 times bigger than the male. The female spins the web and allows several males to cohabitat on the web. The males are usually found at the top of the web while the female sits at the hub, facing downwards, and waiting for insects to become trapped in the web. She then wraps the insect in web to immobilise it, kills it with one bite, and moves it to the centre of the web for immediate consumption or to store in her ‘larder’. I know you are thinking this is cruel but think about the contents of your own freezer. I often think that if the Martians from War of the Worlds arrived on Earth now, they would have had no conscience about eating people after peeping into the average freezer which is stuffed full of meat.

Continue reading here: https://writingtoberead.com/2025/08/27/in-touch-with-nature-golden-orb-spiders-spiders-southafrica-wildlife/

Roberta Writes – d’Verse, W3 and Thursday Doors #photography #poetry #London

Melissa is hosting Tuesday’s d’Verse prompt: Where do we go from here? You can read more about it here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/08/19/where-do-we-go-from-here/

Our Home

Walking through my house

the original farmhouse for this area

purported to be haunted

by the ghosts of outlaws

shot by the authorities

in the early 1930s

I’ve not seen, or felt, any signs

of these vicious murderers

This is the home

TC and I have built together

during our 25-year marriage

each room is a tribute

to our collective and individual

passions and interests

Our lounge is filled

with African artwork

paintings and beadwork

from our local travels

My African doll collection

has expanded to include

a collection of stone animals

reminders of visits to Kenya

a wooden crocodile from Botswana

and clay animals from the Drakensberg

The dining room is the foreign quarter

packed with dolls from all over the world

India, Japan, Hungary, Vienna, Korea,

China, Netherlands, Poland, and Norway

Antique dolls, vintage dolls, cloth dolls,

leather bodied dolls, wooden dolls,

china dolls, a Judy without a Punch,

and, of course, Peter Rabbit

from my Christening,

and a collection of bears

Lastly, the corridor

it’s long and lit with downlighters

to illuminate my paintings

mostly animals, mostly acrylics

some watercolours

a jacaranda tree,

a visual celebration

of my latest obsession

As I walk, I wonder

What will come next?

I mentioned to TC

that I’d like to try sculpture

and he just smiled

Ange’s prompt for W3 this week is to write a poem for a painting. I chose this one:

You can join in W3 here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2025/08/20/w3-prompt-173-weave-written-weekly/

Womanly Chaos

The beauty of the female form

soft and nurturning

reaching its peak during pregnancy

when one life creates another

it’s hard to imagine

the chaos that lies

in the wake of a woman

as she sheds her young girl skin

explosing her more mature self

the physical often

not matching the mental state

adult thoughts and desires

warring with a young girl’s

dreams and emotions

As time passes

the older woman again

shed her skin

new identity emerging

sandwiched between

older teen and young adult kids

trying to detach and spread their wings

and elderly parents with health issues

Hormones transitioning

she slithers into the fresh territory

of a middle aged woman

surrounded by choas

as she balances life changes

with life circumstances

preparing herself for one last makeover

the move into retirement

and perhaps a grandmother

Thursday Doors

You can join in Thursday Doors here: https://nofacilities.com/2025/08/21/moynihan-train-hall/

This week I am featuring St Thomas Eglin General Hospital in London and the Florence Nightingale Museum which is around the corner from the hospital. Florence Nightingale is considered to be the founder of nursing.

Picture caption: A picture of St Thomas General Hospital from the road

Picture caption: Gate entrance into the hospital and the start of the Covid 19 Memory wall

Picture caption: The Covid 19 memorial outside St Thomas General Hospital. Each heart is for a person who passed.

Picture caption: I enjoyed this painting at the Florence Nightingale Museum in London AND it has a great door in it.

Picture caption: Replica of the carriage used by Florence in the Crimean. The door was a curtain.

Picture caption: A picture of the Nightingale sisters at the museum

Picture caption: This is the medicine chest that Florence took to the Crimean War.

Picture caption: The doors/entrance into the hotel in London

Roberta Writes – d’Verse, Who has a sweet tooth, Esther Chilton’s writing challenge, and Thursday Doors – Bruxelles chocolate tour #poetry #photography

Lillian’s d’Verse prompt is to create a poem using at least one sweet/chocolate from a provided list. You can read the details of the prompt here: https://dversepoets.com/2025/07/22/who-has-a-sweet-tooth/

Throw out other chocolate

Bruxelles, Belgium

Chocolate capital of the world

A status assigned in 1912 when

Swiss apothecary, Jean Neuhaus Jr,

Together with his son, Jean II

Created the first chocolate filled pralines

An amazing taste explosion

That won the hearts of Belgians

Especially when packaged

In the exclusive ballotin

The innovative Louise Agostini

Soon the greater world

Discovered Belgian pralines

Not an ordinary confectionary

Like Snickers, Kit Kat, or Twix

Nor a praliné filling, comprising

Of ground caramelised nuts

Not the same thing at all

But a specific composition

Consisting of a chocolate casing

Made using 35% pure cocoa

With a delicious soft filling

That includes nuts, marzipan, coffee,

Salted caramel, liquors, cherry,

or a yummy chocolate blend

So put down the Chuckles,

Big Hunk Bars, and Three Musketeers,

Throw out the Bit-O-Honey, Skittles,

Sweetarts, and their confectionary like

And indulge yourself with delicacies

From Côte d’Or, Leonidas

Pierre Marcolini, or Neuhaus

Micro poem

decadently rich

smooth satin consistency

destroyer of waists

Thursday Doors

While in Bruxelles, we went on a chocolate tour and this is where I learned about a few of the chocolatiers and distributors of Belgian chocolate. These are a few of my photographs.

Picture caption: Les Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert Galerie (this is the covered mall in Bruxelles)

The chocolate tour started at the Les Galeries Royales, a covered mall in Bruxelles. It is a very upmarket mall that was originally for the royals and their friends only.

Picture caption: Another photograph of the undercover mall. It is very beautiful. You can see the many doors along the corridor

Picture caption: Front window of Leonidas, the first chocolate shop we visited

Picture caption: Front window of Neuhaus which calls itself the inventors (of pralines)

Picture caption: This is a doors challenge, so here is the door into Neuhaus

Picture caption: A chocolate bust of Jean Neuhaus Jnr and an example of Neuhaus chocolates

Picture caption: Window of Mary’s, a chocolatier started by a woman which makes it unusual as it was at a time when women did not own businesses

Picture caption: TC going through the door of BS40. This chocolatier is different as it is owned by a Japanese couple and has a distinctly Japanese flavour to its products

Picture caption: This is the door to the Atelier Sainte Catherine. This is the only one of the chocolatiers we visited that makes its chocolate on the premises in a factory at the back. I liked that aspect.

Esther Chilton’s writing challenge

This haibun is serving double duty for last week’s prompt of inspiration and this week’s prompt of faith. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2025/07/23/writing-prompts-75/

Private Library

By the time I was eleven years old, I had accumulated a large personal collection of books, ranging from children’s picture books to adult novels. Some of these books were birthday and Christmas gifts accumulated over my short life, others had been purchased at school and church fund raising fetes. I had quickly learned that book stalls at fetes were a fantastic place for me to acquire any book I wanted, regardless of suitability for a young girl. Volunteers barely glanced at my piles of books as they mechanically removed the price tags and totted up the total due. I always had a few bags on hand to stuff them into as quickly as possible. I managed to acquire a few gems like Lace, Princess Daisy, and various Dean R Koontz and Stephen King novels. I remember one book about a ship lost in the Bermuda Triangle that gave me nightmares for weeks.

Friends and my three younger sisters, regularly asked to borrow my books. This seemed like a reasonable request, but I needed to keep track of who borrowed which book. Inspiration hit and I decided to create my own library. I spent several weeks making card sleeves and cards for every book I owned. At that time, it was a few hundred as opposed to the few (three) thousand I now own in a physical form.

The day came when my library was ready, and I invited friends over to borrow books. They filled their names and the date on the beautiful blank cards and took my books away. Sadly, many came back damaged by bending or water stains and some never came back at all. This poor treatment of my most treasured possessions sadly shook my faith in humanity and I closed my library. I have never again loaned out a book that I wanted to keep. If I lend anyone a book it is technically a gift as I don’t want the post reading damaged goods returned to me. This was a life lesson I have never forgotten.

Water stained

Broken and battered

Veterans

Of neglect

And blatant indifference

Life lesson soon learned