Riding the Clouds

I'm running the trails in these forgotten fields.
Cloud shadows hurry over undulating hills.
I race with mesmerizing waves of light.
Pretend I'm riding the clouds. 
The light always wins.
I keep playing.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Deer Creek Trail Head - Gallatin National Forest - Pray, Montana 

Listening to Rain

Listening to rain
in the growing light of dawn.

Crows calling in the distance
from inside the wet woods,
welcoming raindrops
that soften the earth.

Blunt, black beaks
eager to probe the soil;
uncover the taste of spring
in fields suddenly green.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. Home Woods ~ Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Grattan Township - Kent County, Michigan

"Living Water"

A fresh bouquet of
lilacs for his wife
with living water
in an antique vase.

The Holy Bible,
the living word,
with ribbons
to mark their place.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Inspired by John 4: 10-14  ~ "Living Water"

Long Horizon

Some of the young boys in this old school
didn't get to finish their education.

Had to leave early to help on the farm;
to groom, plant, irrigate and harvest
these long, flat fields in Kansas;
these long acres of bountiful wheat.

With dedication, grit and loyalty,
they persevered on the prairie,
fulfilling their obligations
to family survival.

Maybe returned to class for the winter.
Perhaps paid the price for their sacrifice.

You can still find them today, standing out in their fields,
looking back at the long horizon of yesterday.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:  1896 Schoolhouse ~ District 84 ~ Marion County, Kansas  

Slow Passage of Time

An ocean of sky
presses upon
this vast desert.

Surrounded by
a severe landscape,
I try to
adjust the meaning
of these lines.

Adapt to the slow
passage of time,
observe the patient
growth of cactus;
and the steady
growth of my faith.

Accept the slow
gift of time
being offered
as an invitation
to your creation.

Your long, 
slow silence
resonates
within my soul. 

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Saguaro National Park ~ West - Tucson, Arizona 

2. Joshua Tree National Park ~ Twentynine Palms, California

Burst the Buds

Next spring's mystery
is now held tightly
within the buds
of winter trees.

Through persistent cold
and months of snow,
waiting for the sap
to rise from the roots;

climb the xylem chambers,
reach along the branches,
tunnel into the twigs,
and burst the buds .

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Woods ~ Cannonsburg, Michigan

American Beech - Fagus grandifolia

Yucca

fibers from yucca

spiralling in desert heat

ready for weaving

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Mesa Verde National Park - Cortez, Colorado