Scarlet Fireworks

It's late August.

Towering above the 
deep green of summer
in the dense shade
along Bear Creek;

excessive beauty
expresses itself
in vertical explosions
of scarlet fireworks.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Cardinal Flower - Lobelia cardinalis

Photo Location: Bear Creek - Cannon Township - Kent County, Michigan 

Season Tickets

The symphony
of summer evenings
is tuning up again
as soft dusk
approaches night. 

Cicadas are finishing
for the day,
while katydids and 
snowy tree crickets
begin to strike
their measured notes.

They don't seem to mind
if I fall asleep
during their performance.

I know it will happen
each night I open
the bedroom windows
of my country home.

I've been given
season tickets
to summer dreams.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 1. & 2. Home woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

White

The intensity
in his yellow eyes
burns like the wick
in a white candle.
Great indeed
is this white egret.

Floating upon dark water,
soft bowls of white
hold purity
in their petals;
embrace
the sanctity of life.

The sun sings
radiant notes
through the fog;
brings the joy
of white light
into your morning.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Great Egret - Kent County, Michigan

2. Pickerel Lake Park ~ Fred Meijer Nature Preserve - Kent County, Michigan

3. Taggart Lake - Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming 

While

Would you like to walk with me
along this path of words?

While the Astilbe
thrust their pink towers
from the perennial garden;

while the Pileated Woodpecker
cackles while hidden
deep in the woods;

while the cumulus bulge
white mounds
into the afternoon sky;

while the hummingbird
sips sweet liquid while
hovering on a blur of wings;

while cloud shadows
race across the fields
trying to catch the wind;

while summer quickens,
ripens, and opens
this invitation

to walk,
to watch,
to wonder.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve - Fort Meyers, Florida

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

3. Home - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Baptism II

Immersed in the natural world,

my humble soul is baptized
by the Holy Spirit within,

my grateful heart keeps opening
the gracious gifts around me.

My wonder-filled eyes
can scarcely take it in.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy:  The Baptism ~ May 16, 2013



Photo Location: Lafayette, Colorado

walk in the garden

walk in the garden

dragonfly on Astilbe

welcome summer days

© 2017 Richard Havenga 

Photo Location:  Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Holy Dimension

The cascading call
of the Canyon Wren

kept urging my words
to form into lines
to echo the sound;

but the clear notes
bursting
from this small brown bird,

at first suspended,
then falling through
the shapeless air,

were so pure,
so full of grace;

it was impossible
to transcribe his song,
sung from the echoing space
of clear canyon air,

onto these pages;
flat, white,
and hungry for words,

impossible to honor
this holy dimension.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Play the call of the Canyon Wren from Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Photo Location:

Garden of the Gods - Colorado Springs, Colorado