Awake

The arrival of dawn 
and the sun's approach
wakes the birds
on this fine morning.

Even the gray light
through skies
cast over with clouds
will still bring out
their full-of-joy songs,

for me to share with you,
to name the birds, if you wish.
To hear their songs, together.

Oh, if only you were here!

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Snow Geese ~ Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - Socorro, New Mexico

2. Scarlet Tanager ~ Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Western Tanager ~ Buena Vista, Colorado

Words Felt

Humble words
waited patiently in lines
until they  grew into groups,
felt comfortable together,
recognized by their meaning,
felt worthy of being heard,
felt honored to be read 
by you.

©2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

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

2. Bear Creek - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Voice of the Winter Wind

Ribbons of cold wind
curl the ice-gray surface
of the lake in January. 

The voice of the water 
is lost under the voice 
of the winter wind.

Photo Locations:

1. & 3. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

2. Thornapple River - Ada Dam - Kent County - Michigan

4. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

Ice Bells

red osier dogwood

suspended over water

ice bells of Bear Creek

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Bear Creek ~ Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

Why Do You Drive? II

They ask: 
"Why do you drive, when you could fly?"
I answer: 

To absorb the variety of landscapes.

To feel the ocean waves.

To experience the weather.

To walk the woods and fields.

To hike the trails.

To observe the plants, trees, and birds.

To learn and discover.
To hold it and be held by it.
To seek intimacy with the land.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy: "Why Do You Drive?" ~ February 25, 2019

Photo Locations:

1. Canyon de Chelly National Monument ~ Chinle, Arizona

2. Beverly Beach - Oregon Coast

3. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

5. Mesa Verde National Park - Colorado

6. American Avocet ~ Gilbert Riparian Preserve - Gilbert, Arizona

7. Canyonlands National Park - Utah 

browsing

eight winter horses 

browsing Wyoming hilltop

waiting for their hay

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Centennial, Wyoming

Formula

Formula
to increase
potential blessings:

Recognize the blessings
all around you, and
give thanks
and praise
every
day.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Sandhill Crane: McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

2. Phainopepla: Oro Valley, Arizona

Years of Seasons

In the silent light
of this new morning,
my words are carried up
through the blue space
between the clouds.

For the time I am here
I am grateful
for all I am given.
Seventy-two years of seasons;
free gifts from God's creation.

Poems and dreams
climbing into the blue.
Traveling with hope
while I am here.

Finally
finding home
after I am
gone.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Colorado National Monument - Grand Junction, Colorado

2. Absaroka Range - Pray, Montana