An old black pickup truck
clatters down a gravel road
pulling an elongated
dust trail behind its load.
The farmer slows down now
to inspect his crop fields;
corn on the north, soybeans south
worrying about future yields.
Dark green leaves
stretch for the skies,
reach for the sun,
photosynthesize.
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 2. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
3. Cannon Township - Kent County - Michigan
how much we long for
the grace we see in the flight
of these Sandhill Cranes
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
Bosque del Apache - National Wildlife Refuge - San Antonio, New Mexico
During the long list of days
that has made up your life,
have you noticed how each one
opens differently?
And how each day's close
is never the same?
No matter the number of days
you have accumulated,
each dawn and sunrise
should be a surprise.
Every dusk after sunset
should leave no regret.
Cloud formations grow then dissolve,
changing by the minute.
The water in the mountain stream today
is not the same as yesterday.
This week's wildflowers will be dying
when next week's begin to blossom.
And the birds?
Each and every day of their short lives,
they unravel their sweet songs,
and live.
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
2. Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan
3. Goodwillie Environmental School - Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan
picking out a route
hiking through the junipers
heart of Canyonlands
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Location:
Canyonlands National Park - (The Needles) - Utah
Purple blossoms of vetch
dangle like living jewels;
like amethyst
on a green necklace.
These delicate gems
adorn summer fields,
use their tender tendrils
to climb and cling to grasses,
seeking better exposure
to the mid-summer sun.
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan
buttonbush blossoms
spherical inflorescence
wetland ornaments
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
A ponderosa-scented breeze
is delivered downstream
to this peaceful place
on the high bank
overlooking
the Tularosa River
in New Mexico,
where I'm reading David Lee's
So Quietly the Earth.
Read, and look at my wife.
Read, then listen to the stream.
Read, and inhale the vanilla fragrance.
Read, then write about rivers and trees.
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. & 3. Tularosa River - Apache Creek, New Mexico
This evening in my library,
I think about my morning walk.
Along the curving edge
of this hilly hay field;
windrows drying in the sun;
inhaling the perfect aroma.
Then across our gravel road
to the north shore
of McCarthy Lake.
I stepped softly to the end
of the old wooden dock,
avoiding little clumps
of dried muskrat dung.
I admire the flexible reeds,
projecting from calm water,
arching into their reflections.
Standing, watching, breathing,
waiting for something to happen.
A sudden slosh
from the edge of the thick cattails.
Too loud, too large to be a fish.
An OTTER !
First one I've seen
in my twenty-three years here.
showing the bullhead
he just captured
from the shallows.
Rising above the surface,
looking back at me,
showing surprise
at my otter surprise.
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
2. & 3. McCarthy Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
Each new morning
new creation
is breathed into being.
I am drawn into
attentive awareness
by my muse,
the Holy Spirit.
Gifts are presented by the Giver;
woven through this day,
which I humbly strive to weave
into a fabric of words.
My camera captures
components of creation,
fragments from the natural world,
images to ignite the writing.
Small pieces of joy
return each year
in the greenwash of spring:
I look into the intensely blue sky
through a filter of Dogwood blossoms;
white purity in the shape of a cross.
Along this trickle of stream
Forget-me-nots are remembered
for their delicate loyalty.
Wading in watery wetlands,
Yellow Iris, in feminine dress,
live short, yet luxurious lives.
Rinsed by soft rain,
arching leaves of grass
hold jeweled droplets
in graceful balance.
Gifts presented by the Giver,
woven through this day.
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Flowering Dogwood ~ Grand Rapids Township - Kent County - Michigan
2. Forget-Me-Not ~ Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan
3. Yellow Iris ~ Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan
4. Grasses ~ Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
