My Mother, Marian Nicholson at the beach a week before her 90th birthday.
Quoting Mom
__Life on the Blue Planet
You Might as Well Laugh as Cry!
For about three years, this book has been ready to be published. I approved it for publication in September, 2025 and announced here on my blog that it was coming soon. I am so sorry for the delay in publication and for the unauthorized disaster of an ebook!
I do not understand quite how that happened, but rather than trying to place blame, I will just take my mother’s good advice… laugh, and continue working on the projects I have underway. I hope to return to blogging soon.
Photo of Osprey by Richard Lee from UnsplashPhoto of Cicada by Stephen Walker from Unsplash
Thank you, Ingrid, for this Lovely Review!
Ingrid Wilson, who taught me how to write a sonnet, has been one of my favorite poets for quite a long time. She is also a great photographer. Visit her blog at
Before I published Earthly Days, several of my fellow bloggers agreed to do advance reviews. Excerpts from those reviews appear on the back cover of Earthly Days.
My heartfelt thanks to everyone who has reviewed any of my books. I appreciate you! Every WordPress interview and review, and every Amazon review I received have been sent to the people who are preparing promotional materials for the Taipei Book Expo. My books will be displayed there in February. Then, I was asked for “representative reviews” from family and personal friends.
This is the third of these “representative reviews” generously provided by my family that I have posted on WordPress. I will post more of these over time.
Serious issues with the ebook, which was unfortunately published without my approval and at the wrong price, are delaying the release of the book. I have tried to get this unauthorized ebook removed, but it is taking a long time.Please do not purchase this unreadableebook .
I will announce the official release of the book when it is ready. For a limited time, the ebook will be available at a low promotional price. I hope this will make it easy for anyone who would like to purchase the ebook and perhaps post a verified review of Life on the Blue Planet.
The title caught my attention immediately. It brought back memories of swaths of vivid green and the sweet, pungent smell of bracken ferns. Ingrid Wilson is nature’s child, and her love of nature is evident in her poetry.
Beachcombing
I’m thinking about painting
the ocean with its fervor
and its froth.
But for an artist’s eye and hand
I’d render both the sky and land:
The glory and the splendor of the earth.
Photo by Sebastian Hans on Unsplash.
A Bracken Fern evokes the rugged landscapes of Ingrid’s beloved Lake country in Northern England. It is a place of history: impressive ruins from Roman times and, going even further back in time, mystical stone henges and sacred circles. Ingrid has an intimate connection to this land and its storied past that is reflected in her beautiful poetry.
Child of the Wild High Places
…Child of the changing seasons
collecting poetry and rhyming reasons
just to be still a while,
only to smile.
Accompanied by her two young sons, Ingrid recently walked the length of Hadrian’s Wall. What a history lesson…not only for her sons, but also for her fellow bloggers with whom she shared fascinating narration and gorgeous photos of the journey!
View of Hadrian’s Wall, Cawfields to Gilsland. Photo by Ingrid Wilson.
A Bracken Fern’s exquisite poems share intensely personal observations and emotions. In poignant poems, Ingrid candidly describes her difficult childhood, her grief over the loss of her mother at an early age, struggles with addiction, a troubled marriage, and her longing to return home to the English countryside she loved.
No Homelike Place
…Praying we can find
a homelike place
we build our houses
…but we can never build without
the homelike place
which we must seek, and find and build
within ourselves, which nowhere else endures.
Points North
…And at sundown
out came all the thousand stars,
And I can name the constellations
in this hemisphere
at any time of year:
There is always The Plough above, or “The Big Dipper”
and at its tip, Polaris
The Pole Star points North.
A view near Carlisle, Ingrid’s hometown growing up. Photo by Ingrid Wilson.
Ingrid found her way to health, found her voice in writing poetry, and found her way back to England. There she fell in love with a talented, creative soulmate. Together, they established a new life for themselves and their blended family. Ingrid founded her own publishing house, EIF, Experiments in Fiction.
Poems written about this period of Ingrid’s life are filled with joy. The pages of A Bracken Fern overflow with love poems and vivid descriptions of the family’s adventures. Ingrid has found her well-deserved happiness and has generously chosen to share it with her readers.
Seedhead Hope Song
…Our hopes, though fragile, rising high
as dandelion-seeds dance the sky.
When the Named Storms Come
…And if the post can’t make it through
then I will drive to you
and if I can’t get petrol
I will ride my bike.
All the Way to Midsummer
…all the way to midnight, I
watch full moons rise if only in your eyes
It’s more than moonlight, babe, it’s starlight too
and earth expands
in your cupped hands
Our wedding bands
in secret pledge
I do.
If I Could Paint
the Colours of Your Eyes
If I could paint the colours of your eyes
I fantasise, I’d swim that depth of blue
and what I wouldn’t do
to bring the sparkle back when it has fled
to lift your heart when it’s dispirited.
Ingrid’s poetry is technically perfect, as well as beautifully expressed. A person who spoke no English, hearing Ingrid’s poems read aloud, would surmise that they were listening to music. Ingrid’s background in English literature and her knowledge of history and mythology provide polish and an added dimension to her work. In this book, you will find well-chosen quotes from William Blake, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns, Lao Tse, and Bob Dylan.
If You Kill the Bird
…You’re just an empty cage girl
void of poetry, unheard.
You’re just an empty cage girl
if you kill
you kill the bird.
Photo of Bluebells by Diana Parker on Unsplash.
A Bracken Fern
…In a graveyard graced with bluebells whose heads bowed
drop pollen tears upon the fertile ground
as bracken ferns unfurl their bannered green
to clothe the hillside and these bones of mine.
Spend a pleasant hour or two reading the beautiful poems of Ingrid Wilson’s magnificent new poetry collection, A Bracken Fern. Pick it up again from time to time, and find your spirits lifted by Ingrid’s inspiring words.
Take a moment to appreciate those who died in defense of your country. Think about the values they were defending. Support democracy, and fight to preserve the rights andfreedoms promised to you in the Constitution.
(Cheryl Batavia’s daughters, Ellen and Katey, meet Skipper, the bottle-nosed dolphin, and his trainer.)
getting to know all about you.Getting to like you,
(belly rub)
getting to hope you like me!You are precisely my cup of tea!
(It’s not polite to stick out your tongue.)
Getting to know you. Suddenly, I’m bright and breezybecause of all the beautiful new thingsI’m learning about you!Getting to know you,knowing we know how to play!Getting to know you.
(Ellen playing the piano, Skipper singing!)
Things I’m learning about you, Day by Day!
(Katey playing the piano, Skipper singing!)
Cuddle Up a Little Closer
Cuddle up a little closer, Lovey mine!Cuddle up and be my little clinging vine!I like to feel your cheeks so rosy.I like to make you comfy, cozy,I love you, I love you so muchfrom your head down to your toesies, Lovey mine!
Photos taken by a Theater of the Sea photographer. Please give credit if you use them.
This is a highlight of the vacation my daughters and I planned together. Due to a last minute emergency, I was unable to go on the trip. These photos make me feel like I was there.
Theater of the Sea in Islamorada, FL has various animals, many of them rescue animals, on display. There are sea turtles, rays, seals, and other animals to observe or encounter.
I hope you enjoy the vintage music. I also considered “Splish Splash!” by Bobby Darren. It didn’t quite fit, but it was fun!
Gulf Coast Poet 