Robbie Cheadle's Blog, page 6

Robbie’s Inspiration – Thursday Doors Writing Challenge: The flavour of ice #poetry #photography

Today’s poem contribution to Dan’s Thursday Doors Writing Challenge is inspired by a picture created by Teagan Geneviene. You can find Teagan’s wonderful blog and books here: https://teagansbooks.com/

You can join in Dan’s challenge here: https://nofacilities.com/thursday-doors-writing-challenge-2025/

Picture caption: Building constructed of ice of a shade of medium blue with a large door outside of which stand two penguins.What’s your poison?

Ice; in shades of blue

Moulded to take the shape

Of human shelter needs

My fanciful mind fixates

On those cool colours

Reminiscent of blue flavoured sorbet

Is it blueberry or is it bubblegum?

Or is it an artificial creation

Carefully moulded to fulfil

Each human’s every desire?

What is your poison?

Is it flavoured with blue ice

And served by coated penguins?

Or is it merely a martini

Shaken not stirred?

During my recent trip to Pilanesberg National Park, I had my first sighting of Tsessebe antelope (can you say that? Haha). They have similar colouring to hartebeest.

Picture caption: Tsessebe grazing in the bushveldPicture caption: Tsessebe resting in the bushveld

Robbie’s Inspiration – Guest post: Animals: Poems by Ray Whitaker #poetry #guestpost

Today, I am delighted to introduce you to Animals: Poems, a new collection by Ray Whitaker.

Ray is the editor of Masticadores Canada and a great supporter of the poetry community. You can find out more about submitting your poetry for publication by Masticadores Canada here: https://masticadorescanada.wordpress.com/submissions-guidelines/

Picture caption: Cover of Animals: Poetry by Ray Whitaker featuring a green forest.Blurb

In ANIMALS,

the animals are to be found inside each poem. Current research on animals like domesticated animals is finding out that what many animal owners know, that Dogs, Cats, even Horses are much more complicated that previously understood. The ongoing research on the wilder animals like Bison, Wolves, Geese, even the Big Cats like Jaguars indicated their level of intelligence and range of personality is incredible. New information is arriving in the white papers every year, and gives the rest of us new insight as to the world of animals that we simply didn’t have empirical evidence for only a few decades ago. It is also rare to find a book of poems including them.

The poetry in ANIMALS, the found animals in the verse are characters. Their presence in the individual poems serves to highlight the contexts and metaphors found in the pieces.

Purchase Animals: Poems from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/ANIMALS-Poems-Ray-Whitaker/dp/B0F3TYTCFN

Extract from the Introduction to Animals: Poems

“In ANIMALS,

the animals are to be found inside each poem.  Current research on animals like domesticated animals is finding out that what many animal owners know, that Dogs, Cats, even Horses are much more complicated that previously understood.  The ongoing research on the wilder animals like Bison, Wolves, Geese, even the Big Cats like Jaguars indicated their level of intelligence and range of personality is incredible.  New information is arriving in the white papers every year, and gives the rest of us new insight as to the world of animals that we simply didn’t have empirical evidence for only a few decades ago.  It is also rare to find a book of poems including them.

Anyone that has owned -or been owned- by a pet knows this.  There just wasn’t too much scientific evidence to support what pet owners have intuitively known.

The poetry in ANIMALS, the found animals in the verse are characters.  Their presence in the individual poems serves to highlight the contexts and metaphors found in the pieces.

In the Pete Townshend song, “ I Am An Animal” [cut two of the album Empty Glass, 1980 release] the artist gives a perspective of using animals as metaphor. This direction of using animals as poetic devices in this volume of verse was partially inspired from that fine song, which incorporates many introspective characters. 

            “I am an animal,

            My teeth are sharp, and my mouth is full

            And the passion is so strong

            When I’m alone, loneliness will change me.”

The lyrics above from the second verse of the song serves to illustrate the approach of this volume.  Such contemplative and soul searching directions come from assimilating the sentient beings in our natural world. 

This poet’s intense love of the natural experience of the outdoors, it’s magnificent creatures have always been an influence on my writing. In wondering about the why of things, pretty much as I have had want to do most of my life, it is a natural extension to include animals in thought provoking poems.  The inserted photography has influenced me with the gorgeous landscapes of the eastern range of the Rockies here in Colorado.  Included photos -book cover as well- are taken using my Olympus DLRS camera rig, using a careful tripod in the streams and on snowy hillsides.  All of the photos are from this poet’s journeys down back roads that no regular Ford passenger car should be on.

Welcome to the jungle of where we find ANIMALS!       —R a y“

About Ray WhitakerPicture caption: Author picture of Ray Whitaker

All writers and poets are writing out of “the Self” however there are directions that the self speaks into, that change. Now Ray’s writing is to put foremost in his work, just who he is writing for. He intends on writing for the everyday man and woman. He firmly believes that poems need to reach into the everyday person’s pictures in their minds, and engage with those. This is where he aims to make a difference in his creative writing. He’s fulfilled when he sees that his work is provoking thought in his readers. Ray has fand to the 2025 our books published, and two chapbooks. His work has been published in twelve different countries.  He’s working on two new manuscripts now. Ray was a Delegate to the 2024 and 2025 Writer’s International Panorama Festival. He participates regularly with several zoom poetic events worldwide. Among them, he has been spotlighted on a US National Poetry broadcast from Quintessential Listening Poetry Online Radio In April, ’24; and also an International Poetry Recital hosted by The Fertile Minds out of India this past April 19th.  In July he has been the featured poet reading in David Leo Sirois’ Spoken Word Online, associated with Spoken Word Paris.  He is Moderator for Michael Lee Johnson’s FB “My Voice,Your Words- Poetry In Action” page; and a Co-Editor for MasticadoresCanada Journal.

Robbie’s Inspiration – Thursday Doors and Esther Chilton’s writing challenges #poetry #photography

I chose two photographs from Dan’s writing challenge gallery here: https://nofacilities.com/thursday-doors-writing-challenge-2025/

Esther’s challenge this week is Fictional Worlds. You can join in here: https://estherchilton.co.uk/2025/04/30/writing-prompts-63/

I think both these poems relate to fictional worlds.

Picture caption: A large spacious room with a door at the end. Picture provided by Kerfe from https://methodtwomadness.wordpress.com/

I don’t know why this picture prompted the poem below. Somehow, when I looked at it, the picture reminded me of a period when the firm I work for went through a bad patch and there was a big restructuring that occurred including the vacating on the smaller of two buildings. I remember walking through the nearly empty second building where I was one of the few remaining staff. It was horribly creepy with all the empty rooms with doors at the far end.

Crossing the Empty Room

I stand at the door, looking in

Knowing I must cross the floor

My footsteps echoing on the tiles

The sound bouncing off pictureless walls

An empty room, stripped of its essence

All signs of its purpose removed

Dirty marks and picture hooks

All that remain of an earlier time

When occupants gave it life

I take a deep breath, move forward

The temperature is cold, the air dry

The ghosts of previous employees drift

Across the vast and empty floor

Dancing the steps of disgruntlement

The room grows, seeming to elongate

As I pass through the hostile crowd

The retrenched sucking on bitter lemon

The leavers regretting hasty decisions

They tap my slopping shoulders

Breathing memories into my reluctant ears

Bequeathing me their despair and vexation

At the unexpected turn of events

That derailed the smooth flow of their days

Destroyed their faith in ‘the system’

I reach the exit, yanking open the door

It slips from my sweaty fingers

Banging closed on the disappointing past

I walk on, cloaked in disillusionment

Picture caption: Picture of a flying goat in a bright room at a slight angle. Provided by Teagan Geneviene from https://teagansbooks.com/Hey diddle diddle (twisted nursery rhyme)

Hey diddle diddle

A boy with a fiddle

What a terrible rasping noise

Horrified by the sound, the goat found herself skyward bound

In search of serenity and inner poise

And now a couple of pictures from my recent trip to Pilanesberg National Park. These were taken at Black Rhino Lodge.

Picture caption: a vervet monkey. I took this photograph directly up into the tree the monkey was sitting in.Picture caption: the same vervet monkey. He was a little further away in this shot.

“From the Shadows” a Quirky Response Poem by Robbie Cheadle

Thank you to Nolcha Fox for sharing my poem on Chewers by Masticadores.

I’m off to the bush this morning so I won’t be around much until Monday.

From the shadowsA bat emergedChased my sonDown the passageLike a bat out of hellHe flew to my roomSoon joined bySon number twoBoth driven battyBy the…

“From the Shadows” a Quirky Response Poem by Robbie Cheadle

#TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge, No. 10, Senryu Series, 4/29/2024

I’m hosting Tanka Tuesday this week with a Senryu Series. Go on over and join the fun.

Hello everyone, it is Robbie with you today, and I’m sharing a new (I think) poetry writing idea for you. I would like you to write a senryu series, …

#TankaTuesday Poetry Challenge, No. 10, Senryu Series, 4/29/2024

Robbie’s Inspiration – Tanka Tuesday and W3 #poetry

Willow chose an acrostic poem for her Tanka Tuesday prompt this week. This is her prompt: This week, I would like us to think about what is happening underground. Seeds and bulbs are waking up, while roots are looking for nourishment and reaching out looking for communication and news. Little creatures and insects are all on the move.

So pick a word associated with spring (or whatever season you’re in) and off you go.

We are going into winter and everything is aging and dying.

You can join in Tanka Tuesday here: https://tankatuesday.com/2025/04/22/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-9-acrostic-poem/

Carol Anne also used an acrostic poetry form for this week’s W3 prompt. This is her prompt:

This week, write an acrostic poem using the word transformation. In an acrostic, the first letter of each line spells out a word or phrase—vertically down the left margin.

Each line should relate to the theme of transformation in some way: personal, spiritual, political, emotional, seasonal—whatever resonates with you. There’s no set meter or rhyme scheme, but thoughtful structure is always welcome.

You can join in W3 here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2025/04/23/w3-prompt-156-weave-written-weekly/

I wrote one poem for both prompts.

Transformation

Time creeps on insidiously

Recognition of deterioration dawns

Aging not for the feint hearted

Numerous aches and pains

Suffering preparation for the grave

Fear of the unknown replaced with

Obvious relief at a blessed escape

Rheumatism wracks the fleshy shell

Movement awkward and painful

Arthritis causes inflammation and damage

Transforms joints with severe swelling

Inescapable fate of all human beings

Observation of this unavoidable process

Necessary part of our own preparation

Sunday Stills

Terri says it is National Kids and Pets Day and her post was a celebration of that topic. I am taking a slightly wider interpretation and give you some more pictures of my beloved animals in the bush veld.

You can join in Sunday Stills here: https://secondwindleisure.com/2025/04/27/sunday-stills-until-one-has-loved-an-animal/

Picture caption: Baby lion lying in the sand – beyond adorablePicture caption: Lion cubs with mommy. So cute!Picture caption: Lion cubs with mom. One cub is nuzzling mommy – I love you.Picture caption: Young crocodile in the road getting sunPicture caption: Young zebra with momPicture caption: baby elephant looking so shyPicture caption: Baby rhino – take my picture – I am a fine fellow

Robbie’s Inspiration – Burning Butterflies featured on Patty’s World #bookpromotion #poetry #guestpost

Thank you to Patty Fletcher from Patty’s World for hosting me with a guest post about my new poetry collection, Burning Butterflies.

Patty shares a lot of interesting posts on her site, many of which provide guidance on how to make small changes to your blog posts and published books to make them more accessible to the visually disabled. I have learned a great deal from Patty in this regard and try to implement her advice.

Featured Author of the Week Robbie Cheadle – New Release – Burning Butterflies: Poetry About Southern African Flora and Fauna by Robbie Cheadle

This is the link to my YouTube video book promo for Burning Butterflies:

Robbie’s Inspiration – Book reviews: Cora’s Quest by Lauren Scott and Everyone Hates This Restaurant by Nicholas C. Rossis #childrensfiction #picturebooks

Today, I have two delightful books for children for you. Both are beautifully illustrated.

Everyone Hates This Restaurant: An illustrated Children’s book by Nicholas C. RossisPicture caption: Cover for Everyone Hates This Restaurant featuring an illustration of a young girl eating a sweet

Firstly, I have to mention the illustrations in this book, Everyone Hates This Restaurant, which are absolutely fantastic. The pictures of the various desserts are amazing, I thought I would have to try out this restaurant myself and skip directly to the puddings and cakes.

A delightful story about a young girl who would like to eat out at a restaurant that is not the top pick of her parents or their friends. The food is poorly cooked and presented, the hygiene is dubious, and the staff rude and unfriendly, BUT the desserts are amazing.

This book took me right back to when my boys were tiny and they always wondered why they couldn’t start with dessert.

A wonderful book written in easy to read rhyming verse that will charm early readers and delight parents and caregivers who read to young children.

Purchase Everyone Hates This Restaurant by Nicholas Rossis from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DT3GHZYT

Cora’s Quest

Picture caption: Cover of Cora’s Quest featuring a fawn among flowers and butterflies

Cora’s Quest is a delightful story for young children with a clear message of thinking through difficult situations, remembering what your parents have taught you, and being courageous.
.
Cora is a fawn and she is having a wonderful time on an outing to the forest with her parents. She becomes distracted and loses sight of her parents. Finding herself lost, Cora needs to not panic and make a plan.

The book makes use of simple and appropriate language for the age group and beautiful illustrations that compliment the text.

A wonderful read.

You can purchase Cora’s Quest from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DMQFFCYS

Robbie’s Inspiration – Tanka Tuesday and W3 and Happy Easter #poetry #Easter

Selma’s Tanka Tuesday challenge is as follows:

 For this week’s challenge, I’d like us to write poetry that portrays movement. Poetry is a moving target; reality is always moving.

You can join in here: https://tankatuesday.com/2025/04/15/tankatuesday-poetry-challenge-no-8-any-syllabic-form-from-the-list-for-4-15-2025/

My poem demonstrates movement in time (thought) and also progression. This is my first reverse cinquain which you can find out more about here: https://tankatuesday.com/tanka-tuesday-poetry-cheat-sheet-for-tanka-tuesday-poetry-challenges-2/#reverse-cinquain

Toilet training

Moving

Backwards through time

My sons still small babies

Adorable with nappy bums

Big smiles

***

Teaching

How to use the big boy toilet

Easier said than done

Resorting to

Toy bribes

Ooko’s W3 prompt guidelines“Voices Beneath the Silence”

Write a poem that gives voice to what is usually left unsaid — a buried truth, a silenced voice, a hidden struggle, or the quiet ache of the heart. Let your words speak for what the world tends to overlook: an internal conflict, a marginalized experience, a truth tucked between breaths.

You may write from personal experience, an imagined lens, or even embody the voice of an inanimate object or force of nature. All forms and lengths are welcome — whether you choose free verse, haiku, sonnet, prose poetry, or something entirely your own.

You can join in here: https://skepticskaddish.com/2025/04/16/w3-prompt-155-weave-written-weekly/

I’m Ugly

I’m ugly

my white-sand beach

buried beneath

piles of plastic rubbish

waves no longer gently lap

they rattle and jangle

bottles and other trash

clusters of acne

along my shoreline

winds not refreshing

but heavy with stench

of ocean creatures

whose bodies rot

entwined with plastic bags

gloves and fishing line

I taste the decomposition

as it washes into my streams

bacterial filled sea water

meeting pristine fresh water

birthing cholera and dysentery

my cries for help

ignored for years

I’ve fallen silent

I’m dying

For those of you who celebrate, Happy Easter. My German spice cake, butterscotch and raspberry cream creation.

How to write a non-fiction book with Sally Cronin

Thank you to Sally Cronin for being a wonderful Story Empire guest.

Hi SE’ers its Robbie with you today and I have a lovely treat for you in the form of an interview with influencer, Sally Cronin. Sally is sharing …

How to write a non-fiction book with Sally Cronin