Wide

Throughout this vast landscape,
wide buttes and mesas
rise from rolling hills.

Through this green valley,
the wandering river yearns
for the wide, blue sea.

Under this arch of sky,
our wide world turns,
bringing each new day.

Beneath the wide-spreading branches
of this broad oak tree,
I rest in the cool shade.

During my wide experience
through many decades of life,
I stand ready for what God sends.

Within this wide expanse of time,
the greatest gift continues to be
now.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Hurricane Mesa - Wyoming 

2. Crested Butte, Colorado 

3. Chinle, Arizona 

4. Grand Detour, Illinois

5. Santa Catalina Mountains - Arizona

6. Kootenai River - Montana

Salute

With sincere respect,
and with honor for
their supreme sacrifice;

their lives 
for our freedom,

I salute the 
United States Veterans
on this Memorial Day.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery - St. Louis, Missouri

2. Santa Fe National Cemetery - New Mexico

  

Honeysuckle Haiku

young honeysuckle

ready to burst its blossoms

explosions in pink

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Song Without Words

The persuasive calls
of migrating spring birds
pull me outside during
April and May.

I feast on their
delicious colors
with my eyes:
Scarlet Tanager, 
Blackburnian Warbler. 

I drink their 
sweet syllables
with my ears:
Meadowlark, 
Song Sparrow.

Even their names
are pleasing to pronounce:
Rose-breasted Grosbeak,
Bay-breasted Warbler.

The vowels
forming in my mouth:
Indigo Bunting,
Bobolink.

The consonants
flitting across my tongue:
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,
Chestnut-sided Warbler.

The syllables
fluttering between my lips:
Black-throated Green Warbler,
American Redstart.

Better than anything
on iHeartRadio.
Birdsong
without words.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Scarlet Tanager - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Song Sparrow - Home Woods

3. Rose-breasted Grosbeak - Dixon, Illinois

4. Bay-breasted Warbler - Home Woods

5. Indigo Bunting - Egypt Valley Trail - Kent County - Michigan

6. Bobolink - Allegan State Game Area - Trails - Allegan County - Michigan

7. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher - Home Woods

8. Black-throated Green Warbler - Home Woods

Basket of Birdsong

My ears are filled
with a basket of birdsong.

Each one a blessing
in this place where I belong.

Spring warblers
hidden in the sheltering trees.

An angelic choir
carried on the morning breeze.

These precious moments
I will always savor,

and thank God daily
for His special favor.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy: "Book of Songs" ~ April 17, 2017

Photo Locations:

1. Red-eyed Vireo - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Gray Catbird - Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

3. Bay-breasted Warbler - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Yellow Warbler - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Killdeer

killdeer teenager

steppin' out in her high heels

learnin' how to flirt

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Walker, Michigan

Browsing

The  calm light of evening
contains long shadows.

Cattle, still as statues,
browse in pastures of dusk.

I walk close enough to the fence
to hear grass being torn. 

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Bozeman, Montana

2. Cannon Township - Kent County - Michigan

3. Fairplay, Colorado

4. Buena Vista, Colorado

The Language of Trees

The language of trees
speaks to me through:

Magnificent maples, 
when they produce
the song of the samaras
spinning back to earth.

Flexible willows 
creating curtains of yellow braids
weaving long lines
in the light wind.

Elegant, old oaks
spreading broad branches 
from a solid, sturdy trunk.

Tall, tapering tamaracks
when they display warm,
yellow candle glow
illuminating the wetlands.

 Intricate American Beech
in the spring when their buds
birth tender, pastel leaves.

Persistent palms;
towering to touch the moon,
or catching a patchwork
pattern of sunlight.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Dad's Farm - Kent County, Michigan

2. Blythefield Memory Gardens - Kent County - Michigan

3. Grand Detour, Illinois

4. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

5. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

6. SaddleBrooke, Arizona

7. Estero, Florida

Sound of the Gift

Listen

to the long, curling
banner of song
streaming 
from the meadowlark
above these rolling hills,
and rising up,
as far as I know,
into the open gates
of Heaven.

The sound of the gift
giving gratitude
to the giver.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. (Eastern Meadowlark) Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

3. (Western Meadowlark) Marvel, Colorado