This Is

This is not a black and white photo.

This is a frame of gray stratus clouds.

This is an early morning in early winter.

This is a hillside above the Ada Dam.

This is December in southwest Michigan.

This is snow on ice and snow on trees.

This is Christmas Eve morning, 2013.

This is the sun wanting to break through.

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Ada Dam - Ada, Michigan

Hope

The stream
that begins 
in the mountains

carries hope
on its meandering journey;

believes in
the ocean
it cannot see. 

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Bridal Veil Falls - Provo River, Provo, Utah 

2. East River - Mount Crested Butte, Colorado 

3. Yellowstone River - Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 

4. Pacific Ocean - La Jolla, California  

Inhale

When fields grow thick
with  green alfalfa
and begin to to flower in mid-June;

when juicy stems 
of timothy grass
raise tall tufts of pastel;

when the sweet scent
of freshly-cut hay
lies drying in sunny windrows;

that's when we shall walk again
on these remote, rural roads
and inhale the memories.

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Lowell Township - Kent County, Michigan

2. Franciscan Life Process Center -Lowell, Michigan

3. Grattan Township - Kent County, Michigan

4. Canon Township - Kent County, Michigan

Water Music

I am seeking meaning here,
trying to translate
the notes 
swirling over boulders,
tumbling over rocks,
splashing into the small hollows
that curve up into eddies. 

Upon further examination...

Music from this mountain stream
creates a constant chorus.
I place my hand into
the liquid vibration
to gather the sensation.

The water music 
plays my fingers.

Earth angels
begin to sing.

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Elk River - Steamboat Springs, Colorado 

2. "The Narrows" - Virgin River - Zion National Park, Utah 

3. East River - Gothic, Colorado 

Cardinal Greetings

Along the margin of dawn,
you can depend on the
cardinal
to be the first to proclaim
the start of each new glorious day.

"♪♪ Pretty, ♪♪ pretty, ♪♪ pretty;
pretty-pretty-pretty-pretty-pretty" 
nice day to bring you "cheer-cheer-cheer".

Hear my song here: Cardinal Song.

Its bold, cardinal color,
with orange, blunt bill,
and mysterious black mask,
a common species perhaps;
but perky, perky, perky with pride
displayed in its pointy head crest.

Bold black and red
brightens every day,
whether trees are dressed
or undressed.
Welcoming you outdoors
in every season.

Along the edge of dusk
you can depend on the 
cardinal
to be the last bird singing,
announcing the end of a day;
living with a blessed hope
for tomorrow. 

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Cannonsburg State Game Area - Kent County, Michigan

2, 3, 5: Home Woods

4. Chief Hazy Cloud Park - Grand River- Ada, Michigan

May You Walk II

May you walk...

Under thunderheads rising high after sunset.

Into valleys streaked with earth's bold colors.

Among arching grasses frosted in winter sun.

Over rolling hills peppered with pines.

May you walk through the seasons 
of your life attentive, and alert,
with a joyful sense of gratitude.

© 2015 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy: May You Walk - February 7, 2014

Photo Locations:

1. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County, Michigan

2. Dinosaur National Monument - Vernal, Utah 

3. McCarthy Lake - Kent County, Michigan

4. Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Dakota

Stone Chalice: Sound Within Silence

While the desert below
exhales the evening,
up here on the granite ridge
twilight is held briefly
upon the surface 
of golden pools.

I accept the invitation to sit,
to watch, to listen, 
and absorb.

These bones of granite
cup this fluid 
of the earth.
Tinájas. Water pockets.
Small chambers of
liquid stillness,
waiting to play
Sonoran music in these
Santa Catalina Mountains.

Boulders squeeze
these pools into tiny, 
dripping sounds,
like the smallest
of hand bells; 
played by the very hands
of creation.

Now, years later,
as in trying
to recall a dream,
it is difficult to 
remember this 
sound within silence,
this stone chalice,
while waiting 
for another miracle.

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Santa Catalina Mountains, (Coronado National Forest)  Tucson,  Arizona