Woodworking

 

back in the old days

I was into woodworking

it ruined my teeth

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Pickerel Lake Park / Fred Meijer Nature Preserve ~ Kent County - Michigan

Prayer Leaves

 

Each yellow leaf

that has fallen this fall,

and the red, orange,

and brown ones too,

represent  so many 

fluttering prayers.

Prayers of gratitude

that have illuminated

my autumn days.

An elegant  ballet of twists and turns

sifting through branches and twigs,

to land softly upon the ground;

a book of uncommon prayer.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 3. Home Woods ~ Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. 4. & 5. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

Aaron

 

When I introduced you

to this beautiful world,

we walked outside together.

I thought it would last a lifetime.

In commemoration 

of the life

of Aaron Havenga:

April 2, 1975 ~ November 20, 1994.

"But I always thought that I'd see you again." 

~ James Taylor ~ "Fire and Rain"  © 1970

Photo Location: First Home - (Cascade, Michigan) by Mary Havenga 1976

Authority

 

The rain upon the windows

sounds different this fall

compared to last spring.

In the background,

ambitious clouds are murmuring,

craving freezing temperatures again.

Recalling the influence of snow

upon the land, upon people's lives;

eager to restore its authority.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area - Wyoming

2. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

New Connection

 

Listen to the whispered conversations

from the ambitious autumn leaves

as they prepare for departure

from their green summer home.

Letting go 

with faith

for the future.

A brief, graceful

dance with gravity,

then a new connection

with the nurturing earth.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

The White Fire of Ice

The morning fog is a silk shawl

sliding over this November wetland.

Hanging upon dark silhouettes

of dying willow trunks.

Beneath the willows, ghost-like geese

swim slowly on still water.

Water that will soon transform

into the white fire of ice.

Ice that triggers departure

for this small, local flock.

A flock that will join

a larger formation.

A formation flying

farther south

in the efficient

V-shape.

A shape that has

served their lives

for all time.

They know when it's time.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 3. Grattan Township Kent County - Michigan

2. Home Wetland - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - SanAntonio, New Mexico

 

 

Harvest

 

Ground fog lays a heavy blanket

over a ripening field of soybeans.

First green and growing,

then yellow and slowing,

to a golden-brown glowing.

Harvest time knowing.

Abundance bestowing.

Before it starts snowing.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. 3. 4.  Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

Losing Light

 

Dusk carries a delicate sadness;

especially in autumn,

when daylight diminishes

day to day.

You look up through the trees,

and the splotches of bright

you expected to see

have already grown dim.

Your time spent outdoors shortens;

precious time on the deck,

valuable hours of reading,

memorable moments of writing,

eating lunch and dinner

in the summer sun,

while listening to birds

in the background,

hidden in the woods.

Losing nearly three minutes a day;

a difficult adjustment

when you love the outdoors,

but must come indoors

after the delicate dusk

descends.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Ada Dam - Thornapple River - Ada, Michigan

2. Home Deck - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Loveland, Colorado

Teton Twilight

After an extraordinary day

of watching Pronghorns

scramble through sagebrush flats,

of observing bull Moose

browsing willow shrubs

along the Snake River,

of examining Elk

grazing grasses

along the forest edge,

twilight arrives in the Tetons.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1, 2, & 4. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

3. Telluride, Colorado