Gratitude for life,
for the wonders of nature,
bounties of the Earth.
Gratitude for love
of family and friends,
teachers and mentors.
Gratitude for joys
and challenges of our days;
both teach life lessons.
Gratitude for this moment
filled with opportunities.
Copyright© 2025 by Cheryl Batavia
Thank you to my Fellow Bloggers for all the encouragement and inspiration you share every day. Happy Thanksgiving from Robert and Cheryl! 🧡
Coming December 5, 2025
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.
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.
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 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!
https://experimentsinfiction.com
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.
…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.
…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.
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.
…Our hopes, though fragile, rising high
as dandelion-seeds dance the sky.
…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 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
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.
…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.
…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.
Review by Cheryl Batavia
All photos were taken by Ellen Maher and Katey Batavia at Robert is Here: farmer’s market, antique farm equipment, animals to feed, and so much more!
Ellen and Katey brought me a delicious papaya and a perfect avocado from Robert is Here.
Cute springtime babies
exploring Robert is Here,
staying close to Mom.
Babies, winsome and sweet,
captivating visitors.
The baby goat hanging out in the background doesn’t seem interested in lettuce yet.
Copyright© 2025 by Cheryl Batavia
Happy Memorial Day!
Hope you are enjoying your holiday weekend.
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 and freedoms promised to you in the Constitution.
Mother
is proud of you
for every step you take,
picks you up every time you fall,
shows you how again and again,
and builds your confidence
to walk alone.
She’s proud!
Mother
hears your first word,
always listens to you,
wants for you what you want for yourself,
gives advice, knowing that someday
you will surely recall
what Mother said…
She hears!
Mother
sees potential
when those around you doubt,
has high hopes for you in tough times,
never, ever gives up on you,
even when you give up,
always loves you…
Always!
Copyright© 2021 by Cheryl Batavia
(Cheryl Batavia’s daughters, Ellen and Katey, meet Skipper, the bottle-nosed dolphin, and his trainer.)
(belly rub)
(It’s not polite to stick out your tongue.)
(Ellen playing the piano, Skipper singing!)
(Katey playing the piano, Skipper singing!)
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!
Show me
flamingos…gone
one hundred fifty years…
Reappeared twenty years ago
in flaming glory in
the Everglades.
Show me!
Hunted
to extinction;
Florida pioneers
had hungry mouths to feed.
Flamingos disappeared,
except in zoos.
That’s sad!
There’s peace
in paradise.
The Everglades are home
to wild flamingos once again.
Where did they all come from?
From South America,
some say.
Show me
wild flamingos
returned to Florida
one hundred fifty years later
in their flaming glory.
Paradise found!
Show me!
Copyright© 2025 by Cheryl Batavia
My two daughters, Ellen and Katey, live in Dallas. We have missed our traditional yearly road trip for the last two years due to my illness. This year, we are taking the long-awaited trip to the southern part of Everglades National Park. I am hoping to see the wild flamingos that mysteriously settled there twenty years ago. Some people say they came from South America.
Flamingos had not lived in the wild in Florida for the previous one hundred and fifty years. I have dreamed of seeing these wild flamingos since I first heard about them . Maybe it will happen!
Before we leave, at the request of my younger daughter Katey, we will have an Easter egg hunt. I am filling plastic eggs with small chocolate bunnies, jelly beans, and some goofy little surprises. I will hide hide the eggs in the yard for Katey and Ellen to find. This is the first Easter I have spent with my daughters for many years, and I am looking forward to it!
Katey has also asked me to get a favorite ice cream that is not available in Texas. It is cherry ice cream with chococolate-covered cherry hearts mixed in. We will try to eat small portions!
My daughters are going kayaking. We are taking two boat tours, one in the Gulf of Mexico, and one in the back country.
Then, we are going to the Florida Keys to swim with the dolphins at Theater of the Sea. There are many other marine animals there, including sea turtles, seals, sharks, and rays.
We plan to eat some authentic Cuban food, locally grown tropical fruit, and some famous Key Lime pie. I will post photos and tell you all about our adventures when we return.
I will be on break from April 15-30, 2025.
So long, Snow! Bye-bye!
It was great while it lasted…
We had so much fun!
Let’s all play again next year…
Spring’s just around the corner!
Copyright© 2025 by Cheryl Batavia
For many of us, Spring is here!
To our north, new waves of snow storms keep coming. Don’t worry, Spring is just around the corner!
❤️
Photo by Joel Henry from Unsplash
Photo by SGR from Unsplash
Photo by Maurito Nixon from Unsplash
Photo by Maurits Bausenhart
Photo by Ian Dooley from Unsplash
Blessings…
Celestial,
Earthly, Oceanic,
Terrestrial, and Personal…
Blessings!
Copyright© 2924 by Cheryl Batavia
May nature’s blessings fill our hearts with joy.
May we live in harmony with nature.
May we cherish and preserve nature’s gifts.
In October, from Russia, Katey and Joe,
came to Florida twenty-five years ago.
Friends and relatives sent gifts of welcome.
Hanukkah and Christmas gifts filled our home!
That January, when Katey turned five,
we agreed that a book was the best gift to give.
On Katey’s birthday, when Papa came home,
the birthday plans all came undone!
When Papa came in, Katey was overjoyed.
Between Papa’s feet was a Barney toy.
From the wheelchair, Barney saw his new place.
A gigantic grin spread over Papa’s face.
Katey kissed Barney’s purple cheek,
and the talking dinosaur began to speak.
In his goofy voice, Barney said, “I love you.”
It was unmistakable, Katey loved him too!
We lost Papa six years later in January,
weeks before Katey’s eleventh birthday.
Barney lived with Katey for twenty-three years.
His demise last year left Katey in tears.
This year, I found on Amazon,
Katey’s Christmas present, a Barney clone!
Barney now lives in Texas, where he’ll say,
“I love you,” to Katey every day.
Recently, I recovered over a thousand photos and found these. They gave me a chuckle, and I hope you also enjoy the old photos.
Copyright© 2024 by Cheryl Batavia
My late husband, Drew, and I adopted Katey and Joe from Russia in October, 1995. We lived in Miami Beach, and Drew, AKA “Papa,” was a very devoted father until his death in January, 2003. Katey now lives near Dallas, Texas with her older sister Ellen, a cat, a dog, and two other roommates. The new Barney, the Purple Dinosaur, joined the household in 2o19.
Ellen and Katey visited a ranch…E-I-E-I-O!
And on this ranch they had some cows, E-I-E-I-O!
With a moo, moo here and a moo, moo there.
Here a moo, there a moo, everywhere a moo, moo!
Ellen and Katey visited a ranch…E-I-E-I-O!
Adapted from the traditional children’s song, “Old McDonald Had a Farm.”
Photos by Ellen, Katey and friends.
With a neigh, neigh here…
and an oink, oink there…
Here a mew, there a mew…
Everywhere a mew, mew!
Katey and Ellen visited a ranch. E-I-E-I-OOO!
On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, my daughters from Texas and I visited Zoo Tampa and had a wonderful time. On Wednesday, they visited the ranch of some of their friends in nearby Arcadia. I stayed home to rest and prepare for Thanksgiving dinner the next day.
I love the photos Katey and Ellen shared from that trip. Katey and Ellen love horses and volunteer at a ranch in Texas that uses horse riding therapy for disabled children. The pig in the pictures is a rescued wild pig. Cats and kittens on the ranch are very affectionate. One in particular seemed to want to go back to Texas with Katey. They also fed peanuts to a friendly squirrel!
After a quiet Thanksgiving and a dinner of ham, sweet potatoes, green beans, and ice cream, we rested up for a boat tour and dinner overlooking the bay in Punta Gorda on Friday. Robert was supposed to go with us, but the weather was a little cool and windy. On Saturday, we took a water taxi to an island restaurant, then had decadent deserts in Boca Grande. The girls went for a swim at the beach near the lighthouse.
Katey Batavia, Ellen Maher, Cheryl Batavia on the water taxi.
I have been under the weather, so we didn’t take the road trip we had planned, just some day trips nearby. Allergies and a sinus infection, followed by 24/7 migraine headaches for several months have slowed me down. I recently had an MRI, which ruled out the most serious possible causes of the migraines. A neurologist’s visit is scheduled for March to follow up. Meanwhile, a prescription for migraines from my family doctor should ease my pain. Hopefully, next year, my daughters and I will take our usual road trip.
Katey Batavia
Gulf Coast Poet 