Tangles of driftwood accumulate
along the river's sloping shore;
like a puzzle of jumbled thoughts.
Clouds drift across the sky
as though weightless;
like forgotten dreams.
Rain returns to the lake
it evaporated from;
like a treasured memory.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Lewis & Clark State Park - North Dakota
2. McCarthy Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
3. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado
Bring forth the relevant gifts
that God gave you
and unwrap them.
Share with the world
your passions, your talents,
your desire to create or compete.
Run your miles.
Take your photographs.
Write your words.
Make your music.
Sing your songs.
Dance your steps.
Bake your pies.
Pray your prayers.
Love your family.
Thank you for your
valuable contributions
and the gifts of your talents.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
There is more room to listen
when you choose to go outside.
There's an expansive space to contemplate.
Find your personal place to meditate.
It's easy to calm your own chatter,
to intentionally practice listening.
Ready to receive quiet inspiration.
A gift you can give yourself.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Coronado Island - San Diego, California
2. Estero, Florida
3. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan
When I was a child,
a boy walking outdoors,
the meanings were faint,
but my eyes were large.
Then, as a young adult,
a man walking outdoors,
with focused awareness
and explicit intentions.
Now, an older man with a gentle spirit,
collecting images, gathering words,
sorting meaning into lines,
pursuing truth and beauty.
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Working to fill the page.
Seeking fulfillment.
Giving gratitude. Sharing.
Revealing the heart of a quiet poet.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
The wind comes along
and then leaves;
long gone.
If it stayed,
it would be calm.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Cloud shadows
sweep the foothills,
race up the mountains;
where they're lifted
back into the sky
to reunite with
the hurried clouds.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Coronado National Memorial - Sierra Vista, Arizona
2. Oro Valley, Arizona
Artists seek and discover
epiphanies of beauty
and receptacles of mystery.
Poets follow paths of passion
pursuing relevant words
that translate their imaginations.
Both artists and poets
value the vision
that opens their senses,
and enables them to
capture on canvas
or in lines on a page,
what they seek
from within
their inspired souls.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
The umbrella of
Queen Anne's Lace,
once vibrant with
light and grace,
now stands stiff
and browned with age,
curled inward
to form a cage.
Stems still tall and erect
holding little tufts of snow,
and within the small cage,
next year's seeds to grow.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
A profound stillness
rests on the surface
of the lake.
It's as quiet
as these words
that dissolve slowly
as wispy strands of fog,
like spectral spirits
that rise into the morning,
and disappear
in the atmosphere,
leaving peace
on the water,
and serenity
in my soul.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 2. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan
3. Grand River - Kent County - Michigan
This winding river
reflects the sky's light,
meanders through the valley,
illuminates my imagination,
inspires a current of words
that flow with clarity.
With eyes entranced,
I am drawn into
intimacy with the land.
Enchanted and contented
with this river of light
flowing through this moment.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado
2. & 3. Crested Butte, Colorado
Under the shadow
of the passing raven's wings,
lichen green clumps of sage
are scattered over red soil
in the silent solitude
of the Canyonlands.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Aaron Havenga (April 2, 1975 ~ November 20, 1994)
At first,
when it happened,
the weight was so heavy
I could not lift it
off my chest;
the way it pushed
on my heavy heart.
But after thirty years
I've learned how to carry
the weight of sorrow.
Although I've aged,
my strength is greater,
the burden feels lighter,
my faith shines brighter.
Nineteen years of love was not enough,
but we will be together again.
Love, Dad
© 2024 Richard Havenga
When a small chevron of geese
flies very low overhead,
just clearing the reach of trees,
with the late, lowering sun
golden on their underwings;
it makes my heart dance,
and makes my soul sing.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - San Antonio, New Mexico
2. Home Skies - Cannonsburg, Michigan
While out on a walk, a Red-tailed Hawk
suddenly swooped in without a sound.
His flared tail, a copper fan,
slowed his landing onto the branch.
He shook and shivered
his body feathers into place.
Considered this tree a possible space
to scan the ground for possible prey.
But soon became indignant
that I was watching him watch.
He lifted off effortlessly and flew away,
seemingly disgruntled by my human presence,
and searching for new possibilities.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
The wind is playing
in the golden trees.
Leaves and their shadows
are meeting on the ground.
Seasons are rushing past.
The years are coming true.
Plans are not promised.
Our lives are transitory.
But I am optimistic,
and abundantly blessed.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 4. & 5. Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan
2. & 3. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan
The lower October sun
slants warm rays
onto the golden-leaved ground
in our morning woods.
I can see farther
into the woods
now that half the leaves
have fallen.
Wild Turkeys are
racing then walking
then squawking to each other,
scurrying from my sight.
Now, except for
a White-breasted Nuthatch
making its nasal call,
all is quiet in my yellow woods.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
