A Few Seconds

A tight cluster
of Cedar Waxwings
spilled suddenly
from the canopy
of tall Red Oaks;
leaves green and glossy
in bright summer sun.

 

 

 

They flew fast
with direction
and purpose,
over the field
scattered with
round bales
of hay.

Then disappeared.

Into the
dense foliage
of Silver Maples
lining the riverbank.

When you first heard
their high-pitched
whistles, did you
                               quickly
                                            look up
                                                         to catch
                                                                      their
                                                                             passing
                                                                                          flight? 

Did this little
squadron of joy
quicken those
few seconds
of your day?

© 2013 Richard Havenga



Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Pickerel Lake Park - Fred Meijer Nature Preserve,  (Pickerel)  Kent County,  Michigan

3. White Cloud,  Michigan

4. & 5.  Grand River, (Grand)  Lowell, (Lowell)  Michigan  (Michigan)

Cedar Waxwing - Bombycilla cedrorum

page thirteen

This poem was written July 17, 1992, outside our family tent, at Interlochen State Park, (Duck Lake Campground) in northern Michigan.


Little brown butterfly,
you've landed on page thirteen
of the book I'm reading
to warm your wings
in the morning sunlight.

First your right side,
and then your left.
Slanting and tilting
to keep your wings
perpendicular
to the warming rays.

I slowly slant and tilt
the page you've clung to,
to test your sensitivity.
You adjust your stance.
The experiment works.

You start to walk
over the words:
"Lake Michigan".
You have now entered
this short story* I'm reading;
become a new character.

Stepping over a few sentences
down to the next paragraph,
you pause on the words:
"butterflies migrate".

Then you take flight.

©  1992, 2013 - Richard Havenga

*Short Story: "The Way A Woman Thinks" from collection: Grass Fires - Dan Gerber © 1989

"melodia"

this long song rising

from the Song Sparrow's small mouth

here it comes again



Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia

 

Photo Location:  Home Land

 

Song Sparrow: Recording

 

 

 

 

 

Air Show

Knifing through thick summer air
over a lake of smoothed water,
swallows swoop for small insects
with a spatter of small chatter.

Not famous or well-known
for their song or plain call,
but their skilled flight performance
a silent air show for all.

©  2013  Richard Havenga

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo Locations:

 

1. Pickerel Lake Park, (Pickerel)  Kent County,  Michigan 

2. Big Crooked Lake  (Crooked)  Kent County,  Michigan

 



Flower Sex

stigma, style and ovary

surrounded by six anthers
supported by six filaments

fertilization coming soon
to a garden theatre near you.

©  2013  Richard Havenga

Color-coded for your convenience.

 

Photo Location:  Home Garden

 

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Miracle Fiber

Results of a tiny spider
drifting from our big woods
onto our large deck, and
landing on the fabric of my pants, Dockers ®,
then climbing upon my notebook, Mead ®,
walking on eight legs over my Words ©
then nudged with my pen, uni-ball ® :


Dangling down from my pen,
it dropped fast on a vertical lifeline,
instantly stretching to 12 inches long.

Then increasing to four feet long,
to travel horizontally in a slight breeze.

Then eight feet long,
trending diagonally upward.

Now twelve feet long,
as he is lifted up and away
on this nearly invisible thread.

Displaying a skillful escape
from harassment, to land
where he will... into the next
available, cooperative tree.

Me, a mere witness to this miracle fiber.
My attention captured by this tiny spider.
Astonished enough to dangle a few lines
composed of mere letters and words of this kind.

©  2013  Richard Havenga

Uncollected

Like words
for a poem
I want to write,
these butterflies
flit closely by
and briefly alight.

Then suddenly
flutter by.

The sweet nectar
sensed,
but uncollected.

©  2013  Richard Havenga

Click on photos to enlarge.

1. Eastern Tiger Swallowtail -  Papilio glaucus on Common Milkweed - Asclepias syriaca

2. Aphrodite Fritillary - Speyeria aphrodite on Swamp Milkweed - Asclepias incaranata

3. Red-spotted Purple - Limenitis a. astyanax,  &  Viceroy - Limenitis archippus floridensis 
     
    on Buttonbush - Cephalanthus occidentalis 

Cicadas... again

Cicadas buzz in the canopy
of the woods, then STOP.

Abruptly.

Then begin
to buzz
again.

The closest cicada,
gradually tapering
its  RPM's, 
slowly
idles
down
into 
neutral.

Only to
accelerate,
throttle up
its electric call;
its efficient, built-in
communication device,
slicing through the humidity,
thriving in the August heat,
piercing the summer silence,
demanding your attention.

Again.

©  2013  Richard Havenga

Click on photos to enlarge.

Photo Locations: 

1.  Home Woods
2. Home Woods
3. Abbey Adams  - "Art Prize" 2012 -  Grand Rapids,  Michigan

Cicada on YouTube: Look & Listen

Iris Intimacy

Close enough to feel

this flaming feathered tongue,

this stimulation for insects.

 

The intimacy

between bees

and flowers.

 

Beauty's brief ecstasy.

 

©  2013  Richard Havenga

 



 



 

 

 

 

Click on photo to enlarge.

 

 

 

 

 

heron sleeps

morning heron sleeps

still as the log he stands on

shadow waits below

©  2013  Richard Havenga

Click on photo to enlarge.

Photo Location:  Rogue River,  (Rogue)  Rockford,  (Rockford)  Michigan (Michigan)





After Rain

After a summer rain;
not all the drops
make
the lake.

Some wait to
evaporate
from smooth,
green ovals.

© 2013  Richard Havenga

Click on photo to enlarge

Photo Location:

Pickerel Lake Park (Fred Meijer Nature Preserve),  Kent County,  Michigan

The Same Sun

Evening gathers gently
around the shoulders
of summer trees.
Birds settle into the arms
of darkening branches
for the night. 

I look into the high sky
at the silvery gibbous moon,
and the yellow head of a
towering cumulus;
each collecting and reflecting
light from the same sun.

The same sun
that has settled
beyond my horizon.
The same sun
that has left me
reflecting on my days.

Reminding me
to praise
the one
who made the sun,
and gave me eyes to see:
moon, clouds, birds, trees.

©  2013  Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Pickerel Lake Park,  (Pickerel)  Kent County,  Michigan

Click on photo to enlarge.

Gold

You waited this long,
this deep into summer,
to open your soft fingers.

Curved rays of gentle sun
welcome the hands
that will harvest
this golden treasure,
this small pleasure,

into an antique vase
to warm our days,
or bring
soothing comfort
to an old friend.

© 2013  Richard Havenga

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on photos to enlarge.

 

Black-eyed Susan - Rudbeckia hirta

 

Photo Location: Dad's Creek