After wading thigh-deep in the gulf,
screening the bottom sand for shells,
I angle back into the shore
to show you my best
treasure of the day,
to be added to my collection.
Then I offer you a salty kiss.
A shared treasure.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Sanibel Island, Florida
2. North Fort Myers, Florida
Across this broad field of sage,
a Western Meadowlark is perched;
on a fencepost, on a barbed wire.
From this distance
I can barely make out
his sunrise-yellow breast
with the black tie
pointing down his neck.
I delight in his melodious call,
streaming over the plains;
a long banner of song
curling into the warm wind.
This gift of music,
given by the meadowlark,
received with gratitude.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Hesperus, Colorado
Within this soft peace,
I seek contentment
inside my solitude.
I step cautiously between
the Jack-in-the-Pulpits
and Trillium's white purity.
I listen attentively
to the Scarlet Tanager
and the Red-eyed Vireo.
The Holy Spirit enlightens me;
brings inspiration
to my words.
I glorify the Creator,
and express gratitude
for these precious gifts.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 4. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
2. & 3. Grand River Basin - Lowell, Michigan
Through the dense green foliage
of my Red Oak woods,
at first I cannot spot
the Scarlet Tanager
as he unravels his song,
then my eyes are carried
up into the canopy
of glossy leaves
where he sings his song
of short phrases
alternating high and low.
A performance that will last
through the dense green summer,
when I'll be privileged to get
a few, brief glimpses of
his elegant gown;
splendid elements
of black and scarlet red.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Scarlet Tanager Song:
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scarlet_Tanager/sounds
Photo Locations: Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
Under a sky-blue ceiling,
I open the green doors of spring.
The first words to appear
are like veins extending
in newly born leaves;
expanding to capture sunlight.
I feel the sense of longing;
the desire to hold back time.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan
2. & 3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
Wild Blue Phlox
appear here
in late May abundance.
Silent in their growing
in the sun-dappled shade
at the edge of the woods.
Purple, lavender, a few whites.
Common and familiar,
but when hand-picked
with your favorite pruners,
selected and collected,
and arranged in
an antique vase,
their beauty warms the room
and our familiar hearts.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Home Woods & Home.
Behold.
The mystery;
the potential miracle
of unhatched eggs.
Placed in a soft cup
of dried grasses,
into a woven
basket of hope.
Elegant eggs
dappled and splotched
with earthy colors.
Being incubated,
nurtured for the
invisible future.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Home Gardens - Cannonsburg, Michigan
When Mary retired in 2008,
she didn't slow down.
She still loves to go Birding
every spring.
Here, she is hiking Angel's Landing
in Zion National Park.
She plays tennis in Michigan,
Arizona and Florida.
Enjoys a spectacular view,
in sometimes risky locations!
Enjoys a stroll along Lake Michigan,
or the Atlantic Ocean.
Knows how to relax along a river,
and read a good book outdoors.
Knows her mind, and does not
straddle the fence.
Knows how to have fun.
Is a very classy lady.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
I hurl these words up
into the prevailing wind
to see if they can fly.
They are carried away
across the fresh green lawn
to the margin of the woods,
then drift between the blossoms
of a Flowering Dogwood; where
some words settle on the petals.
The remainder fall to earth,
muffled on a carpet of moss,
gratified by this brief flight.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Kent County - Michigan
From the rich, dark soil,
green hands emerge
and stretch toward the sun.
They send a single spike
straight up to support
a swelling flower.
Morning dew clings to soft petals,
then they slowly open
with feminine grace.
And now, in early May,
spring brings this welcome
cup of contentment.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
In Memory of Lillian Havenga (1922 ~ 2021)
He knew
from long experience
with the land,
where the best blooms
of Redbuds were growing.
He invited his mother,
in her mid-nineties,
for a ride in the country.
A ride she wouldn't remember
the next day, or next week.
But along those rural roads,
magenta-pink blossoms
lit up the gray hillside
sloping to the river's edge.
And she released
a barely perceptable sigh:
"Oh My!"
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 4. Thornapple River - Ruehs Park - Alaska - Kent County - Michigan
2. & 3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
After months of patience,
buried in the frozen soil,
these bulbous globes
send their shoots up,
break the ground,
grow toward the sun.
Tight green buds
open into soft cups
of delicate petals.
Explode with color,
achieve their days
of fulfillment.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. 3. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
4. Holland Tulip Time Festival - Holland, Michigan
The buds of the
Flowering Dogwood swell
and open like dreams.
All these white flags
signaling not surrender,
but celebration.
Spring is jubilant always
and the flowers
are flowering.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Grand Rapids Township - Kent County - Michigan
2. & 3. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
The song of the Yellow Warbler,
bubbling up from the wetlands,
was carried on the spring breeze,
like pollen from the scrub willows
in which he perched;
while singing sweet notes
with his yellow voice.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Gavin Lake - Kent County - Michigan
2. Wabasis Lake - Kent County - Michigan
Don't you admire the strong, confident
rhythm in the wingbeat
of the Great Blue Heron?
How about the up and down,
arching flight of woodpeckers,
undulating between the trees?
Or the linear, straight and fast
destintion-driven style
of most ducks?
You must enjoy trying to track
the swirling, swiveling, darting
ride of the swallows.
And aren't you fascinated by the
skilled precision and acrobatics
of any hummingbird?
Don't you admire bird flight,
and try to imagine what it might
be like to fly?
Pure delight!
Right?
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Great Blue Heron ~ Eagle Lakes Park - Naples, Florida
2. Pileated Woodpeckeer ~ Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
3. Ring-necked Duck ~ Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan
4. Tree Swallow ~ Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan
5. Broad-tailed Hummingbird (female) ~ Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado
