Diamonds

 

The lake can amplify the sky,

indicate the wind's direction,

intensify the sun's blinding glare,

and separate the sun's light

into thousands of flashing diamonds.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

 

Saul Lake Bog

Fine tracings

of arching grasses

are frosted at dawn.

Thick shrubs of Cranberry

display red and green leaves 

packed tightly along their twigs.

Browned cattail leaves

curve down from their heights,

more brittle than their summer selves.

A White-tailed buck

stands tall in the Tamaracks;

alert and muscular,

displaying a large rack of antlers.

A few hundred Canada Geese

announce their departure;

rise clamorously

off the shallow water,

assemble airborne into formation,

and depart over autumn leaves.

Winterberry and

large rose hips

add red highlights

into the dense shade.

Black-capped Chickadees

balance like acrobats

while picking at seed heads

of dried wildflowers

and cattails.

Morning has broken 

at Saul Lake Bog.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Saul Lake Bog Nature Preserve - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

 

Yesterday's Snow

 

Dull, gray light

seeps from the morning fog.

Dark trunks of oak

lift their thick columns

into a flat, pewter sky.

Long branches have shed

yesterday's snow.

Dripping to the ground,

exposing soggy brown leaves.

Small pockets of ground snow

are pocked by falling drips.

Small silver drops

cling to tapered twigs.

As the end December approaches,

the front edge of winter

waits to begin 

its long, stubborn stay.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. & 3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan 

Avocet

 

Alphabetically,

it's near the top

among ardent Auduboners:

American Avocet.

We love your bold wings

of black-white-black,

and admire the rufous wash

on your head and neck.

You wade on spindly legs

with knobby knees

through shallow water

and squashy mud flats.

Your slender, black,

upturned bill swishes

back and forth,

gleaning aquatic insects.

We especially appreciate

your elegant profile,

whether you're wading

or lifting your lithe, 

long-legged self  

into flight.                                                  

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 3. 5. & 6. Gilbert Riparian Preserve - Gilbert, Arizona

2. Mono Lake - California

4. Plains, Kansas

God Speaks II

Although God can speak
in a number of ways,
he seems to prefer
silence.

I've heard the silence
a number of times;
and so I listen,
trying to understand.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy "God Speaks" September 6, 2019

Photo Locations:

1. St. Patrick's Church - Parnell, Michigan

2. McCarthy Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

Golden Days

 

In September, Colorado aspens

become wicks of candle flame

to enlighten the foothills.

They climb steep 

mountainsides

with bands of yellow.

Backlighting

by the autumn sun

enhances their radiance. 

Aspens dazzle my days,

color the green forests,

illuminate the landscape.

Each golden day

is a new opportunity

to glorify our Creator.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Silverton, Colorado

2. Grand Mesa, Colorado

3. San Juan National Forest - Colorado

 

Possible

I gave a little nudge

to this poem

at its beginning,

to see if it had any

potential, promise, or purpose.

The answers came back:

Probably, possibly, perhaps. 

While it hasn't exactly

made my brain sing,

it's possible that if

I probe deeper,

and push harder,

something of minor worth

may materialize

or invent itself.

However,

here in line seventeen,

nothing has happened yet,

so I may as well go

ride my bike,

or run,

or go fishing,

where at least it's possible

that I'll catch

something

by line twenty-six. 

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: McCarthy Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

Perceptive

I am always grateful

for the power of perception.

Deeper than simple observation,

perception contains the capacity

for emotion and passion.

While working in my spring garden,

a Song Sparrow singing sweetly

can make me suddenly attentive

to its joyful, solo performance,

carry music into my soul.

While fishing on McCarthy Lake,

I become conscious of

ballooning cumulus

reflecting on calm water,

surging into summer-blue skies.

While hiking in the Rocky Mountains,

my awareness is elevated

by golden waves of aspens

climbing slopes and ridges.

While running these country roads,

the autumn wind flings falling leaves

onto my head and torso,

producing a sensory experience.

While exploring the shoreline

of Pickerel Lake in early winter,

I witness the conversion

of water into ice.

I have become more receptive,

mindful and present;

influenced by the renewal and recurrence

of creation in all seasons.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

3. Ouray, Colorado

4. Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan

5. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

Regatta

 

A flotilla of dead leaves

assembles on the leeward lobe

of Murray Lake in October.

Each leaf carries

an upturned lobe

to catch the variable wind.

Its petiole, curved upward,

becomes the bow

directing its erratic voyage.

No one, no thing,

is aboard

this tiny sailing craft,

but one observer

is watching the action

of this non-competitive regatta. 

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Murray Lake, - Kent County - Michigan

November Light

 

The light in November

changes slowly, subtly. 

The sun,

when it does shine,

sneaks in at a low angle,

with patience.

You finally accept

that warm summer days

are long gone,

and autumn colors

have faded out.

You begin to admire 

shades of brown.

Yet, the sun,

when it does shine,

carries a subtle hope

for tomorrow.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

surrender

fragile flakes of gold

hovering over dark creek

soon to surrender

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Spring Creek - Fallasburg Park - Kent County - Michigan

value of gold

 "Nothing gold can stay." ~ Robert Frost

fog softens the woods

Sugar Maple leaves linger

valuable as gold

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Fallasburg Park - Kent County - Michigan

drinking the wind

 

I'm drinking the wind,

running through golden showers:

Sugar Maple leaves

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

Released

This poem is no longer mine.
I have released it into the world,
hoping it will find a place
in someone else's mind and heart.

It now belongs
to anyone who wants it.
It's a gift.
It's for you.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. & 3. Fallasburg Park - Kent County - Michigan

Unanimous

After feeding on
fermenting crab apples,
a cluster of Cedar Waxwings
disappears.

Now perched among remnant leaves
of Red Oak in early November,
I hear their thin, whistled calls.

In a unanimous decision,
they all agree
to take sudden flight
in a loose, wavering flock.

I take a quick count:
twenty-eight!  

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

sudden

 

these sudden mushrooms

emerge after autumn rains

with moist, rounded caps

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

cornfields

 

stratus clouds lighten

above these golden cornfields;

dawn brings soft gray light

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

flames

 

flames of October

blaze with a vibrant vision

flare from green forests

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: 

Grand Mesa - Colorado

Saturday Morning Backroads V

 

This is the fifth in a series titled: "Saturday Morning Backroads"...

Each time I leave home, I am blessed

to drive past Bear Creek;

but I don't just drive past,

I stop to explore with my camera,

especially in the glorious month of October.

A few miles south of home,

I love to run this one-lane dirt road

especially when the Sugar Maple leaves

are falling gently upon my face and shoulders.

If I'm running "around the block",

a five-mile loop through farm country,

 I am blessed to view our beautiful church:

St. Patrick's of Parnell. 

Above the Flat River

in Fallasburg Park,

I watch a leave's last dance

and its return to the earth.

In the rural countryside,

within white fences,

I admire this centennial farmhouse,

and the thick carpet of  Sugar Maple leaves.

Golden-green veils

of Weeping Willows

frame a Mute Swan

on Big Crooked Lake.

Back home, in my own woods,

I am rewarded by the vibrant leaves

of American Beech, with green midribs,

parallel veins, and sharply acute apex.

I am blessed to live where I live;

grateful for these gifts,

to be able to drive

and run these country roads.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

 

Photo Locations:

1. Bear Creek - Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

2. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

3. St. Patrick's Church _ Parnell, Michigan

4. Fallasburg Park - Kent County - Michigan

5. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

6. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

7. Big Crooked Lake - Kent County - Michigan

8. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Please view and read previous posts of "Saturday Morning Backroads":

Saturday Morning Backroads IV ~ October 19, 2015

Saturday Morning Backroads III ~ July 10, 2015

Saturday Morning Backroads II ~ October 8, 2014

Saturday Morning Backroads ~ June 6, 2012