Wingtips

 

A large flock of starlings

slant into a ship of wind

with aerial acrobatics.

A dark-feathered cloud

of swift movement.

Sporadically, haphazardly

changing direction.

Wingtips always close,

but never touching.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Cottonwood Music

 

High above my head,

a suddenly ambitious wind

arrests my attention.

I look up,

and dancing in

the higher branches,

a full orchestra of leaves

waving at me, and playing

Cottonwood music.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Kent County - Michigan

2. Sandhills of Nebraska

Remembering Wine

 

This wine I drink,

that now conforms

to the glass I hold;

does it remember the vines

that held its clusters

of plump, purple grapes?

The broad leaves,

prominently-veined,

that shaded the treasured fruit?

The soil, the sun on the slopes

of Old Mission Peninsula,

of Leelanau Peninsula vineyards,

refreshed by Lake Michigan breezes?

I do.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Deck - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. 3. 4. & 5. Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail

Quilt

 

A soft fabric of stratus clouds.

Parallel ripples drifting by.

A gray-white quilt

cushions the autumn sky.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: 

Boulder Creek Golf Course - Kent County - Michigan

Time Again

 

I'm taking time, again,

to examine small moments.

Appreciating the fragments

that comprise a fulfilling day.

Bluebirds in the background,

sharing their liquid song

as I weed the perennial garden

below their conversation.

These isolated streaks

of high cirrus clouds

becoming white feathers

brushing the morning sky.

A sudden burst of wind

that releases and carries

a mass of autumn leaves

tumbling and turning with gravity.

Taking time again, to recall

memory's precious treasures.

All those yesterdays giving birth to today

with confident hope for tomorrow.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Home Sky - Cannonsburg, Michigan

 

Consolation of Rivers

 

I am immensely comforted

by the consolation of rivers.

Wild water flowing freely.

Rapids cradled between mountains.

Water rushing with gravity,

bashing broad boulders

to create whitewater rapids

that pound on my ear drums.

Rivers carrying time,

endlessly into the future.

Washing my words

with exhilaration.

The current singing

the song of my life.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. North Fork Payette River - Idaho

2. Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado

3. Gibbon Falls - Yellowstone National Park - Wyoming

 

Sun Play

 

Sun plays with the clouds,

splashing dramatic light

through the lovely morning sky,

captivating your sight.

Sending rays of hope

from heaven to earth,

and you're out here

getting your minute's worth.

© 2026 Richard Havenga 

Photo Locations:

1. Loveland, Colorado

2. Saguache, Colorado

Singing Water

 

Water is content, flowing along

quietly, in wide, slow rivers,

but it remembers its youth,

and how it loved to sing.

First, trickling over stones,

later dancing with boulders.

Pouring down the shoulders of mountains,

respecting gravity, gathering in the valleys.

Exuberant in its voice,

joyful in its journey.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Snake River - Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

2. Grand River - Kent County - Michigan

3. Middle Fork Flathead River - Glacier National Park

4. Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado

5. Payette River - Idaho

Corridor of Pines

 

I'm walking through this long

corridor of Red Pines,

footsteps soft and silent

on layers of needles

slowly becoming soil.

Recalling the signage that said:

"Planted in the 1930's

by the Civilian Conservation Corps

during the Great Depression."

Decades later,

I appreciate their work;

it has made a great impression.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Red Pine Trail - Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

Cobble of Stones

 

I approach this large lake,

and enter the shallow water,

barefooting across

a cobble of stones.

Wincing, "ouching", trying

to absorb the pain,

until it's deep enough

to dive in and swim,

then float freely

in the cool, refreshing water

of Jackson Lake,

while gazing at the amazing

Grand Tetons.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Jackson Lake - Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

Singing to the Sky

 

A small Canyon Wren

is singing to the big sky.

One long song

woven into the western air.

Singing with exuberance,

a sacred sound cascading down.

Clear notes bursting

from this small brown bird.

Ascending, descending,

echoing off smooth rock walls.

I hold my breath, close my eyes,

feel blessed to be a witness.

Years later it lingers

in the canyons of my memory.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

Garden of the Gods - Colorado Springs, Colorado

Subtle Tones

 

During autumn's

popular splash of colors,

you may have missed

the more subtle tones;

when green ferns

turn into gold,

and blueberry fields

lay carpets of deep crimson.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. McCarthy Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

2. Ottawa County - Michigan

Warming Grace

 

Have you been touched

by the warming grace

that glows briefly

within your grateful heart?

Have you experienced

end of the day contentment

that accompanies 

your gratitude?

Be aware and prepared

for it to happen again,

as you accept

your inherited blessings.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Home Fields - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

3. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

Knowing When

 

Please read these words

slowly.

They arrived after careful,

purposeful searching.

Some people say that writing

is not work,

but writers know 

the work of writing.

Occasionally, but rarely,

the words pour down,

like a sudden, summer

thundershower.

But most of the time

the words arrive slowly,

like the gradual, daily growth

of new leaves in the spring.

Writing requires patience, persistence,

and perceptive discernment,

to know when

you have it right.

Knowing when

it's done.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Bird Island, North Carolina

2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Bridge

 

I'm standing 

in a rain shower

with my back to the sun.

Suspended in the atmosphere,

a vibrant bridge between

earth and clouds.

Colors arching briefly;

a visual gift

of rainbow design.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Capricious

 

They rise and dive,

dart and dip,

sweep and weave,

as they flutter by

your garden of flowers.

These capricious creatures

lighter than air,

performing an erratic ballet;

dancing through the soft

sunshine of summer.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. 3. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan

waterlines

 

footprints in the sand

making a small impression

by the waterlines

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Lake Michigan ~Ludington State Park - Michigan

Walking On Water

 

They tread lightly

as a breath of spring

over the water's smooth surface.

Long legs pushing, propelling,

rowing themselves with

persistence and purpose.

 

Navigating the quiet waters.

Efficiently patrolling

the surface film.

Walking on water.

Water riders.

Water Striders.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. & 3. Bear Creek - Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

Nelumbo lutea

 

Rising from the wetlands,

a prized living trophy

glowing on the stage,

anthers bowing down

in adoration,

surrounded by

a supporting audience

of soft, pastel petals.

American Lotus.

Nelumbo lutea.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Grand River - Spring Lake, Michigan

Words of Promise

 

I'm back here again

in my window chair,

trying to grow my morning poems;

some words of promise

on sunlight yellow paper.

Always praying for

a shower of inspiration,

just a sprinkle of imagination,

an aspiring germination

to grow into creation.

With roots probing

into the fertile soil,

absorbing nourishment,

seeking a firm foundation

in the beloved earth.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Library - Cannonsburg, Michigan