Here in Winter

Gone are the delicious,
delightful days of spring;

gone are the long,
luxurious days of summer;

gone are the gorgeous,
glorious days of autumn;

now we endure the hard,
harsh days of winter;

drab and dreary,
rigid and relentless;

bleak and brittle,
but wait! ...

Observe with open eyes:

Magical moon shadows
are cast upon the snow.

Winter weeds exhibit
exquisite beauty.

Frozen fields are smoothed
by the simplicity of snow. 

Chickadees bring joy to the feeders.
Woodpeckers still hammer the hardwoods.

A thin skin of ice
fingers the narrow streams.

The glare of white sun
reflects the purity of snow.

Water in winter rivers
sings a colder, older song.

Here in winter 
are frozen lakes
you could walk on.

Here in winter
are wooded trails
you could ski on.

Here are the wonderful,
wondrous days
of winter.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1, 3, & 6. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Grattan Township - Kent County, Michigan

4. Bear Creek - Townsend Park - Kent County, Michigan 

5. Grand River - Ada Township - Kent County, Michigan

Choice

Suppose 
each unborn child
that was to be aborted
had a name.
A full name:
a first name, 
and a last name.

Then you could
imagine each one
as a living child,
as a growing child,

with a life to live,
with their own
choices to make,
with days to dream,
with a future
to decide.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Note: Since January 22, 1973 there have been 58,000,000 abortions in the United States. That's 1,318,181 per year. 109,848 per month. 3,662 per day.

The Invitation II

Surrounded 
for forty years
by thick woods
and a density of green,

he longed for wide views of blue sky
bulging with afternoon cumulus
rising above the mountains.

He read
the invitation from
The WEST:

"Your presence is requested.
Please enter by submitting
your words, your images,
your dreams that could come true."

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Grand Teton National Park ~ Wyoming

2. Gothic, Colorado 

Orion and Cassiopeia

On this cold, clear night
ten thousand stars burn overhead.

It's ten degrees and getting colder,
but this older man who feels young
stays outside long enough
to find his favorite constellations:
Orion and Cassiopeia;
dependable and constant,
light years apart.

Coming into the house,
he decides to warm his wife
with a January fire, with firewood
he cut, split, and stacked last October,
when the woods were aflame with color,
and time was burning fast.

Flames grow in the fireplace,
sparks rise like a constellation,
and passion returns to burn
on this cold clear night.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home

Desert Dreams

After sunset,
red clouds flare and
flame against the sky.

As dusk becomes night,
the silence of the desert
grows vast and deep.

A splinter of moon
moves through
a spatter of stars.

Closing the tent,
I thank God 
for this day.

Closing my eyes, 
I wait for dreams
to be born.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Tucson, Arizona 

2. Home