Shadow's Source

 

Whenever a quick,

silent shadow sweeps

over the ground around me,

I immediately look up

toward the sun,

to find the shadow's source.

Was it a Turkey Vulture,

Red-tailed Hawk,

or Sandhill Crane?

A Canada Goose, of course,

would announce its arrival

before it arrived. 

This time a large surprise:

a Bald Eagle carving easy circles

between sun and clouds.

Silent shadows

sweeping the earth,

far below the source.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 3. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

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

5. Eagle Lakes Park - Naples, Florida

Revisions

 

I've lived this life I'm in

through a series of decisions

and multiple revisions.

There have been thousands

of interesting interactions

and some savory satisfactions.

It's grace that's travelled

with me as I roam,

and grace will lead me home.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. Centennial, Wyoming

2. Home - Cannonsburg, Michigan

The Patience of Horses

 

The patient pull of horses;

displaying superior strength and stamina.

Working with wagons,

courtly with carriages.

The clip-clop of hooves,

climbing, climbing,

arriving, departing.

Performing their work,

pulling their loads,

proving their patience.

Leaning into the harness,

into the hill,

pulling the weight;

gravity pulling back.

The way it is on

Mackinaw Island.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Rushing

 

Like a fast mountain stream

plunging past boulders,

the current of time

is rushing through my life.

To slow down time,

I sit on a boulder,

breathing slowly, deeply;

open to possibilities.

After some patient waiting

under the shade of pine and spruce,

an American Dipper suddenly appears.

While slipping into the current,

it captured larvae

from underwater rocks.

Now it's ready to serve them to its young,

hidden in a globular nest of bronze moss,

anchored upon a wet boulder

in the middle of this

fast mountain stream

rushing through my life.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. & 3. Taylor River (Lodgepole Campground) - Almont, Colorado

Temporary

Like the soft linen
of newly-formed clouds,
when I arrange words on a page,
I'm not always sure of the source.

I let them find each other,
and gather into tentative groups,
like the temporary lives 
of mountain wildflowers.

Perhaps my words will pulsate
with warmth inside your heart
like the brief  glow of evening
on a slow moving river.

Or, maybe fresh new words
will surprise the writer;
words hidden just beyond
the next bend in the road.

Or, the words could identify with
the feeling of acute awareness
that you notice when the wind
temporarily stops. 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Tucson, Arizona

2. Columbine ~ Telluride, Colorado

3. Grand River - Grand Rapids, Michigan

4. Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Contours of Creation

 

Inside the contours of creation,

God hides while we seek.

From the vast oceans of the earth,

or within the least little raindrop,

He is present in His creation.

In the first glimpse of sunlight

at the edge of dawn,

He is shining bright with promise.

In the last glimpse of sunlight

before the arrival of dusk,

He is shining bright with hope.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Muir Beach Overlook - California

2. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Estero, Florida

trackless

 

at Tuxedo Creek

January trackless snow

water still flowing

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

Angels of the Sea

 

Angels of the sea

rise up

along the curve

at the arc

of a wave.

Silver-blue gowns

trailing mist,

lustrous with light.

Is this where

earth meets Heaven?

At the arc

of a wave?

In the luminous skirts

of sea angels? 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Sunset Beach, North Carolina

Theatre in the Sky

 

The sky is a stage

with rapidly-changing sets

suspended above the earth and its

slowly-changing scenes.

A multiplicity of birds 

performs in the theatre of the sky.

Winged props suddenly appearing,

then flying offstage. 

A variety of clouds

make their appearance.

Expanding, contracting, diminishing,

passing on.

The backdrops and lighting

constantly changing.

I am privileged to be

in the premium seats.

A new script is written every day,

with brand new props

for an attentive audience

arriving in this arena.

I am eager for each performance;

ready for the change of scenery

when the curtain of dusk falls

and a new drama begins,

in the night sky.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Eagle Lakes Park - Naples, Florida

2. Colorado

3. Flathead Lake - Montana

4. Longmont, Colorado

5. Catalina, Arizona