Looking Out

 We have no curtains, no blinds

on our windows to block the view.

We are 700 feet from a gravel road

that is seldom travelled.

When the leaves are on the trees,

we cannot see the road.

From the road,

our house cannot be seen.

We are surrounded by woods;

with tall Red Oaks, some Hickory,

Black Cherry, a few Sugar Maples,

and an occasional American Beech.

I spend a lot of time

looking out our windows,

stepping out on the front porch,

and sitting on the back deck.

I value private.

I cherish quiet.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home - Cannonsburg, Michigan

The Weight

for Tom T.

The slow weight of these summer days

is not what you expected to carry.

Just as you retired, that

cruel "C" has invaded your space.

The dreams you realized, up in the U.P.,

have begun to materialize

in that remote cabin in the woods,

improved by your skilled hands.

The slow wait of chemo will interfere,

but will restore you, just like the new leaves

that regenerate and expand every spring;

you, too will emerge from this diagnosis

with a renewed mission to remodel

your cabin and resume your life,

when the bright light of hope

shines again through your trees.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Credits: Carol Theoret  ~ (near Munising, Michigan)

Vincent

 

Despite working in your asylum studio in France,

I believe "Starry Night" shines with hope.

You also brought recognition to peasants

working tenaciously in the dreary fields.

Working with a self-imposed urgency,

you suffered under the duress of stress.

Your bold, dramatic brushstrokes

expressed motion and emotion.

"Sunflowers" is a warm harmony of yellows.

A robust vitality of color.

You've left a profound impression

on generations of admirers,

with the skilled manipulation of your brush;

painting with the lucidity of light.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photos from this book: 

He Carried Her

 for Sarah D'Amico

He carried her around the house,

from window to window,

pointing out things to view.

And with a small,

three-year-old finger,

Sarah pointed too.

And repeated the words she

heard from her daddy: 

"tree, flower, bird".

At age five he carried her

into the family canoe on the Flat River;

counting turtles on the rocks and logs.

He ran beside her at seven,

as she wavered and learned

to ride a two-wheeler.

He picked her up in high school

when she was exhausted from

track and cross-country practice.

He brought her to college;

University of Michigan,

and praised her for good grades.

And brought her home, age twenty,

that tragic November,

when her only brother died.

He said, "Goodbye, I'll miss you,"

when she left home to explore her life;

Hawaii, California, Utah, Colorado.

He applauded her guitar music,

as she wrote her own songs

and shared her smooth voice.

He carried her in his prayers

every time he thought of her

making a positive impact in the world.

His eyes teared each time he read her

sweet notes in homemade Father's Day cards,

always ending with: 

"I Love You Daddy!" 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Platte River - Honor, Michigan

First Breath of Morning

 

Filaments of song

are strung along

the strands 

of spider silk.

Can you possibly imagine

the sound it creates

when the first breath of morning

plays its strings like a harp?

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary - Naples, Florida

Taste of Summer

 

Recalling from childhood;

(ten or eleven?)

the thin layer of paraffin

that sealed the jar

of strawberry jam.

Large, luscious berries

that we picked in June fields

while the sun warmed our backs.

That gray disc of wax preserved 

the sweet taste of summer,

strawberry jam, spread on warm, buttered toast;

a rare treat for a winter breakfast

in the late nineteen-fifties. 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Plates and Bowls

 

Floating flat as fabric

around the lake's circumference;

lily pads cover the tablecloth surface

with smooth plates of glossy green.

Bowls of soft blossoms

hold purity in their petals.

Displaying individual crescents

arching like the new moon.

White explosions

over calm water.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

Green Promises

 

On this Sunday morning country run,

is that our church choir I hear?

No, it's the Bobolink's bubbling call

hovering over the mostly alfalfa hayfield;

flutter-flying in a controlled stall

over June grasses growing tall,

and the long green promises

of a long summer approaching.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Parnell, Michigan

Presence

 

By the time I realize the

magnificence of the moment,

it has already slipped away.

Words are a weak substitute

to describe the way the

Grizzly Bear rambled down the slope.

Great shoulder muscles

rippled with each stride.

His coat thick and dense.

Long, formidable claws

tore into the mountain soil

as fist-sized rocks tumbled.

His dominating presence,

his vigor, a living gift;

gone too soon. 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Glacier National Park - Montana