Palette

The grassy fields are fading,
greens to browns, paling.

Goldenrods 
becoming brighter,
yellowing,
showy in August,
dominating September.

Long, sunny days remembered,
as hints of autumn appear.

Sumac collecting color,

from a palette like no other. 

©  2014  Richard Havenga

Click on photos to enlarge.

#1, #3, #4 Canada Goldenrod - Solidago canadensis

#2 Showy Goldenrod - Solidago speciosa

#5 Smooth Sumac - Rhus glabra

#6 Staghorn Sumac - Rhus typhina


Photo Locations:

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

2. Townsend Park, (Townsend) Kent County, Michigan

#3,  #4. Home Woods 

#5. Home Garden

#6. Parnell, Michigan

Red Haiku

soft summer raindrops

kiss sensuous red petals

please linger longer

©  2014  Richard Havenga

Gladiolus species: "Oscar"

Photo Location: Home Garden

High Silence - Slow Prayers

Entering these mountains
again,
between cool canyon walls
and sun-warmed rock faces,
my level of gratitude
elevates.

With perseverance and trust,
pines hold fast;
to seams in the slabs,
to breaks in the boulders,
along bulges of rounded rock,
growing roots and branches
like slow prayers.

Waiting with patience and trust,
and inspired by this faith observed,
may I learn from these pines;
while listening 
in the high silence
for an answer
from a quiet voice.

©  2014  Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Cedar Breaks National Monument, (Cedar Breaks) Utah 

2. Muddy Gap, Carbon County, Wyoming (Wyoming)                           

3. Estes Park, (Estes Park) Colorado

Witness

How long would you wait
to witness the exact moment
a flower opened:

The first, slight split
in the flawless seam?

The slow separation
of soft, sensuous petals?

The graceful curving
into curls and arches?

The profound appearance
of pistil and stamens?

The powdery pollen
clinging to anthers
at the tips of slender filaments?

The prominent stigma,
moist and receptive,
atop the stout style?

Are you waiting,

and watching,

and grateful

for this gentle gift,

created daily
during deep summer?

Will your witness
of these miracles
grow into a prayer
of thanks

from the silence
of your heart?

How long will you wait
to hear
that still, small voice
within?

©  2014  Richard Havenga

Flower Identification and Photo Location:

1.  Hinge Bindweed (Calystegia sepium) - Gun Lake, Michigan

2. Blue Flag Iris (Iris versicolor) - Wabasis Lake Park, Michigan

3. Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorum) - Home Garden

4. Yellow Glacier Lily/Avalanche Lily (Erythronium grandiflorum) 
     - Medicine Bow Mountains, (Snowy Range) Wyoming 

5. Trout Lily/Yellow Fawn Lily (Erythronium americanum) - Home Woods

6. Common Orange Day Lily (Henerocallis fulva) - Home Woods

7. Michigan Lily (Lilium michiganense) - Home  Garden

8. Pink Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) - Townsend Park, Cannonsburg, Michigan

9. Virginia Meadow Beauty (Rhexia virginica) - Shallotte, North Carolina

10. Gunnison's Mariposa Lily (Calochortus gunnisonii) - Boulder County, Colorado

11. Wild Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)- Ada Township, Kent County, Michigan

12. Rough-fruited Cinquefoil (Potentilla recta) Canon Township, Kent County, Michigan

13. Chicory (Cichorium intybus) Grattan Township, Kent County, Michigan

14. Hollyhock (Althaea rosea) - Home Garden

15. American Lotus (Nelumbo lutea) Grand River, Spring Lake, Michigan

16. Fragrant White Water Lily (Nymphaea odorata) - Freedom Park, Naples, Florida

Rumi

Photo Location:  

Point Reyes National Seashore, (Point Reyes) California (California)

Curtain Closing

Here in these mountains
time seems to linger longer.

This silver fringe
of evening clouds
is the curtain closing
on this summer day.

A theater filled 
with the blessings
of creation.

On stage,
a hint of God's presence.

In the audience,
a grateful people.

©  2014  Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Gunnison, (Gunnison)  Colorado (Colorado)

gestures

dancing in sunlight

grasses brush the summer breeze

with graceful gestures

Squirrel Tail Grass - Elymus elymoides, Sitanion hystrix

Photo Location:  Steamboat Springs, (Steamboat) Colorado (Colorado)

Manna

A small, soft wind
is shifting and swaying
the ripening wheat,
bronzing in warm
summer sun.

One small kernel
planted in fertile,
warm soil
produces
thirty to fifty
seeds per head;
eventually milled
to give us
our daily bread.

Nourished
by the earth,
how many
stalks of wheat
grow in one acre?
With precious sun
and vital rain
from our maker.

How many kernels
can this
Michigan farmer yield
from his small field?

How many bushels
are harvested by ranchers
in Kansas, the Dakotas,
Oklahoma, Manitoba,
and Montana?

Thank our God
for wheat.
Our manna.

Photo Locations:

Kent County,  Michigan (Michigan)

Orange

anthers bear pollen,

stigma is prime to receive,

pollination soon

©  2014  Richard Havenga

Photo Location:  Home Garden

Chamber Music

Approaching
from the back edge of day,
this twilight, gentle and soft,
is patiently collecting my thoughts.

Shadows 
merge into a deeper dusk,
filling the evening with quiet;
except for the crickets
within their hidden chambers
tuning up 
for their next performance.

Capturing the thoughts
from this audience
of one.

©  2014  Richard Havenga

 

C.S. Lewis

Photo Location:  Glacier National Park,  (Glacier)  Montana (Montana)