Architectural Questions

From the inside, follow the spiraling silk 
around the circular architecture.
Notice the perfect spacing,
the radiating bands, tightening.
Some strands are sticky, some are not. 
Concentric rings? No, not exactly.

The sculptor 
of this amazing sculpture
produces liquid silk, 
from silk-producing glands,
becoming solid in the air.

Spinnerets spin fine silk 
only .15 microns in diameter.
The silk is strong, yet elastic. 
Can stretch 30% to 40% before it breaks.

How long to achieve this geometric perfection?
Overnight? Several hours?
Do you find the spider industrious?
Are you impressed by the web's functionality?
Fascinated by scientific explanation?
Is all this intricacy necessary?
Do you still find it miraculous ?

©  2014  Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary - (Corkscrew) National Audubon Center, 
Naples, (Naples) Florida (Florida) 

2. Snake River, Oxbow Bend - Grand Teton National Park, (Teton) Wyoming (Wyoming) 



micron:

Future Prayer

The river is now collecting
yellow leaves.
They are falling and giving 
a kind of grace 
to the woman watching.

She listens for their joining,
the welcome reception,
the soft touch of
leaf upon water,
the easy change of life. 

Accepting the new direction.
Living in the present.
Carried by the gentle current
to a new place 
of awareness. 

Grateful for this 
fragment of time 
flowing by without words,
she accepts the grace given,
watches more leaves land on the river.


One leaf
~its petiole pointing toward Heaven~ 
touches her soul gently,
like a future prayer
that could be answered.

© 2014 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Rogue River - (Rogue) Kent County, Michigan

3. Grand River - (Grand) Kent County, Michigan

Soft Mystery

What soft mystery
is developing 
inside the purity
of this  white 
cactus flower?

A ring of spectators
circles the stage
to witness,
or to participate in,
a pollination ballet. 

© 2014 Richard Havenga

Dedicated to:
Joanne Jaglowski - Ballerina extraordinaire. 


You may also like: "Pollination Ballet" - June 3, 2013


Photo Location:

Saguaro National Park - Tucson,  Arizona 

Surrendering

Only yesterday
these leaves
danced on
slender petioles.

Caressed
by the wind,
nourished
by the twigs.

Now, the slow grip
of frost
presses upon
dying leaves.

Their short lives
spent, fallen,
surrendering
to the season.

©  2013  Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy "The Last Dance" - October 7, 2013 

Photo Locations:

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

2. Home Land,  Cannonsburg,  (Cannonsburg)  Michigan

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

Leaf Identification: 

1. Trembling Poplar - Populus tremuloides 

2. Norway Maple - Acer platanoides

3. Red Oak - Quercus rubra