Starting the Day

A few miles west of here, I hear
the bells of St. Patrick's Church
announce the start of 9 o'clock mass.

Here, at Murray Lake,
I'm sitting in the grass,
my backrest is a boulder.

Small bass patrol the shallows
while shallower still, minnows
swim in schools of protection.

A Yellow Warbler is singing
"sweet-sweet-sweet, sweeter-than-sweet,"
from an arching twig of willow.

Spring has ripened into summer.
Swallows sweep low to the lake.
The morning breeze strokes the surface.

I am writing into words
what I see, hear, and feel;
bliss for my senses, 

but thinking and praying
for the home bound, the handicapped 
from St. Patrick's parish.

Offering thanks for my blessings,
as I contemplate the comfortable 
start of this new day outdoors.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy: The Bells of St. Patrick's ~ May 14, 2015

Photo Locations:

1. St. Patrick Church - Parnell, Michigan

2. Murray Lake - Parnell, Michigan

3. Yellow Warbler @ Wabasis Lake - Michigan

4. Pickerel Lake Park & Fred Meijer Nature Preserve - Cannonsburg, Michigan

silk and dew

get down in the grass

to see these magic highways

silver silk and dew

© 2017 Richard Havenga

white

gulls riding the wind

white as angels in the air

their cries pierce the sky

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Ana Maria Island, Florida 

2. Petty's Bayou ~ Spring Lake, Michigan 

Integrity

How to translate
the chaos of the wind,
when it thrashes
these solid, old oaks.

Only yesterday
it stroked
the infant leaves
with a warm breeze
gentle as a mother's touch.

Now the tall trunks
are wavering, swaying,
the rigid limbs rocking.

The intensity of the wind
testing the architectural design
of these living pillars,
testing the integrity
of these solid old oaks.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Minooka, Illinois

jeweled

washed by Great Lakes waves

these precious, persistent stones

jeweled by the sun

© 2017 Richard Havenga 

Photo Location: 

Whitefish Point Bird Observatory - Paradise, Michigan 

National Treasure

The longer I linger
in this sandstone canyon,

the silence that surrounds me
grows wider and deeper.

I'm walking inside a treasure
that you would treasure.

More than a national park,
more than another colorful
geological feature in Utah.

I am wrapped within a blessing;
engaged, enthralled, entranced.

Wanting to hold on to this feeling.
Needing to share this blessing. 

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Bryce Canyon National Park - Utah

Lifts with Wings

A life,
unlike our own,
lifts with wings
above the dusk.

Gray upon gray,
as evening yields
with a sigh from
diminishing winds.

Heron lifts with wings
above the dusk;
finds a firm branch
to spend the night.

A life,
high enough 
for dreams
to be lifted. 

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Rogue River ~ Rockford, Michigan