Changes

Blue Jays, quiet and secretive

most of the summer,

have begun to shriek and jeer

from high hidden perches.

Black-capped Chickadees

gather in groups again

to chatter and jabber:

"fee-bee," and "fee-bee-bee".

Eastern Chipmunks jump

and scatter quickly

off the wooded trail

you are hiking.

Sandhill Cranes have raised

their young and take them up

for practice flights, preparing

for late fall migration.

And out West, in the elevations,

the Rocky Mountains are already aflame

with Aspens climbing and

spreading gold up the slopes.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Chief Hazy Cloud Park - Kent County - Michigan

3. Pickerel Lake Park - Fred Meijer Nature Preserve - Kent County - Michigan

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

5. Grand Mesa National Forest - Colorado

The Arms of God

 

When slices of sunlight

penetrate the branches of our east woods,

I extend my arms in gratitude

for these inspiring shafts of light;

accepting this morning offering,

reaching for the arms of God.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Merging Seasons

 

Outside this morning,

it is so quiet,

it seems like the landscape

is contemplating itself.

A meaningful meditation

on the merging of seasons.

Greens merge into yellows

on a Crooked Lake peninsula.

Summer is surrendering

to the artistry of autumn.

Asters of deep purple

guide the gradual change.

A cold air mass waits to slide south

from the Upper Peninsula.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Home Fields - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

Dancing Grasses

 

All these slender grasses

are dancing with 

invisible partners.

Their golden hair

swaying in the

summer breeze.

This silent choreography

absorbing my attention

with grace and light.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Pickerel Lake Park / Fred Meijer Nature Preserve - Kent County - Michigan

The Show

 

Outlined

in the deepening dusk,

erratic silhouettes

zig and zag for insects.

Swooping in one-hundred-foot circles.

Disappearing, reappearing,

fluttering on wings of skin

just above the canopy of oaks.

It's a fascinating show, so,

watch it while you can,

before the fading light

dims to darkness;

though the show

continues

into the night,

unseen.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy: "When" ~ July 31, 2013

Video Location: Home Woods ~ Cannonsburg, Michigan

Forgotten Dreams

 

Some dreams seem

to bubble up from 

the deep water of sleep,

like the long, curving stems

of water lilies emerging

from the bottom silt.

Rising through the cold water

of spring, to lay flat circles

of glossy green on the surface.

And by early summer

creating bowls of white,

deep with forgotten dreams.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

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

Flourish

 

The silky summer air

of June became

thick and oppressive,

like wet flannel

in the heat of August.

Yet the wildflowers

continued to flourish

in their due time.

The Cardinal Flower,

so red, so dazzling,

I am left breathless.

The elegance of

the tapered turrets

of Culver's Root.

The invasive, yet attractively pink,

Purple Loosestrife,

that we're not supposed to like, I think. 

 All flourishing

in the heat

of August.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

This is Dementia

In loving memory of Lillian Havenga (October 22, 1922 ~ September 2, 2021)

They can't remember where they've been,
a dark road ahead with an uncertain end. 

Now surrounded by shadows of doubt.

Is happiness dimmed by time,
or simply forgotten in the fog of forgetting?

Feeling like a fallen fruit, 
wanting only respect and acceptance.

They have become abandoned buildings;
former great designs now become mysteries.

Are regrets surrendered,
or abandoned?


Preferring comfortable habits,
fearing new experiences.

They are hidden behind the trees,
stuck inside the shadows. 


Trying to accept this new stage of life
with grace and dignity.

Struggling to accept their
dependence on others. 

Waiting at the gate,
but not knowing what for.

Now carrying new burdens
with the uncertainty of an orphan.

Brief fragments of understanding,
like razor-thin ice, are shattered
as they are formed.

Becoming a stranger to yourself. 

The memory becomes shallower,
like ripples upon the shore. 

Drifting in the eddy
between the former self
and the darkness ahead. 

Searching the darkness
with diminishing options,
seeking sameness for easier decisions.

Their memories grow old,
packed with stories often-told;

gathered into lumps of lint

deep in their warm pockets.

Now becoming transparent
inside their lonely days,
time refuses to move.

Thoughts are all tangled,

twisted into turmoil.

Silent as an old photograph
trying to hold on to yesterday.

Their parade of days
diminishing in the distance.

Their thoughts have gone astray.
There is nothing more to say.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Ada, Michigan

2. Sierra Vista, Arizona

3. Kent County - Michigan

4. Fountain, Colorado

5. Buena Vista, Colorado

6. Loveland, Colorado

7. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

8. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

9. Home Woods - wetland - Kent County, Michigan

10. Lincoln Beach, Oregon

11. Pickerel Lake - Kent County - Michigan

12. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

13. Southern California

14. Yellowstone National Park - Wyoming

15. Olympic National Park - Washington

16. 1896 Schoolhouse - Elkhart, Kansas

17. Centennial, Wyoming

18. Lowell, Michigan

Lillian

 

Her soul longs to go home,

but her frail body lingers,

with only 77 pounds

to sustain her weakness.

Two months shy of 99,

her bony hands try to guide

the straw to her mouth

in slow, uncertain motion.

Hearing weak. Sight poor.

No appetite.

Her voice

a faint murmur.

Helplessness hangs heavy upon her.

Dependency drags her down daily.

She bears invisible pain,

yet never complains.

Long sleep is her escape

and salvation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This September morning 

Lillian passed

through Heaven's gate

and will now see with new eyes

the Glory of God. 

© 2021 Richard Havenga

In loving memory of

Lillian Marie Havenga 

October 22, 1922 ~ September 2, 2021