Heaven Between the Trees

 

Now that the sun has

migrated back to the north,

I don't have to wait as long for

first light to turn into first color,

for morning to open the day.

The birds wake earlier

and stay later in April.

American Goldfinches

are beginning to show color;

slight hints of yellow feathers.

In about four to six weeks,

all of our colorful warblers

will be migrating and singing

their parts in the sweet choir

in the temple of our woods.

Heaven between the trees.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Lowell Township - Kent County - Michigan

3. Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

Many Rooms

 

On this annual occurance

of crocuses and daffodils,

we can congratulate ourselves

on sursviving another

long, West Michigan winter.

Now we patiently wait and watch

as the brown and gray woods

absorb energy from the sun and

transform into a green mansion

where we can walk in many rooms.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. & 2. Home Garden

3. Home Woods

Occasional Tears

In Memory of Aaron Havenga (April 2, 1975 ~ November 20, 1994) 

On his would-be 50th Birthday.

No matter how fast I run,

no matter how far I drive,

I can never return to

the time he was alive.

I think of the grandchildren

that could have been;

had he lived and married,

everyone would win.

How can I ever say goodbye

to all those wonderful years?

It's all I have left of him,

except for occasional tears.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Fallasburg Park - Lowell, Michigan - Forest Hills Central Cross Country Meet.

2. Reeds Lake Triathlon - East Grand Rapids, Michgian.

3. Niagara Falls State Park - New York.

Red Rocks

 

Clumps of white cumulus

gather above red rock monuments

in Arches National Park.

I'm reminded of my smallness.

Humbled by these enormous rocks. 

Impressed by their permanence.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Arches National Park - Utah

How to Read Words

 

You are reading these words

as I have written them:

Transparent as Lake Superior's water.

Clear as the night sky in the desert.

Soft as the petals of Arizona's poppies.

Colorful as October woods in Michigan.

Generous as the ocean pushing onto the shore.

Fresh as spring daffodils in your garden.

Dependable as the seasons turning.

Striving as acorns aspire to become oaks.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Whitefish Point Bird Observatory - Upper Peninsula- Michigan

2. La Jolla, California

3. Wabasis Lake Park & Campground - Kent County - Michigan

Measured Miles

 

I'm out here again,

running against the wind.

Grateful to God

that I can still accomplish

these measured miles.

Accepting the challenges of

weather, hills, heat and cold.

Thankful for my lungs, legs,

strength and stamina.

Accepting limitations, but

persevering in my mid-seventies,

confident in the coming years.

Ready to run these measured miles

for another chance to taste

all four seasons outdoors.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Kaua'i, Hawaii  (Please note: In the Hawaii photo I'm only 58 years old.)

2. Castle Valley, Utah (In the Utah photo I'm 72 years old.)

3. December 16, 2024, was my 77th Birthday.

4. This is Poem # 1,025 since I began writing Poetry in 2012.

Room Enough

 

As the silver light of day

turns apricot, turns plum,

the Snowy Egrets

begin to glide in

to their roosting tree

on a small island

in a small pond.

Room enough for all

as day becomes dusk.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Vista Plantation - Vero Beach, Florida

Remembering Seasons

 

We walk

through the seasons of our lives.

The snow, the cold, the blizzards.

The rain, the heat, the thunderstorms.

Wildflowers emerge in the spring woods.

Tree buds swell and unfurl new leaves.

Vibrant autumn colors

flare briefly, then die.

Winter sun slides by low in the sky.

Summer sun climbs high.

We live our lives alive,

try to thrive in each season;

remembering.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

4. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

5. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Until

 

The farther up this trail I go,

the fewer people I see,

until I'm in the company of quiet.

Until I reach this rushing stream

and sit on a boulder to listen

to the talking waters.

Studying the current

rolling over rocks,

bending around boulders.

Silver veins of water

tumbling in turmoil,

falling freely with grace.

Until these words

 flow into lines

of liquid poetry.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Yellowstone National Park

Shore Dance

 

An ever-changing pattern;

this feathered flank of shorebirds.

A living, moving fleet

dancing along the shore.

Tracking the saturated sand,

feeding at the fringe of foam.

Until, in a flashing flurry,

they flutter-fly away.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. & 3. Sanibel Island - Florida

Starter Words

 

I scribble a few starter words

onto this empty yellow page.

Black letters across blue lines

awaiting a sense of direction.

Hungry for a hint, an indication,

or some subtle suggestion

on where to go, how to proceed.

Then I decide to stop and read:

Kenyon* and Kooser*,

Stafford* and Stafford* for starters.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

* Jane Kenyon

*Ted Kooser

*William Stafford

*Kim Stafford

You may also like:  "Hovering Pen"

If You Have Any

 

If you're reading this during daylight,

could you please go outside and find

a good, wide view of the sky?

Then, could you make a brief observation

of the position and composition

of the clouds in your sky?

If you have any.

You know, just the basic three types:

cirrus, stratus, cumulus.

And one last request,

if you don't mind,

if you have any 

time:

Could you please tell me the speed

and the direction they are drifting,

so I can watch for their arrival?

You may be watching your sky right now,

or you may still be reading.

Either way, 

thank you for your participation.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. North Fort Myers, Florida

2. Tubac, Arizona

3. Grand Mesa, Colorado

4. St. Patrick Church - Parnell, Michigan

Winter Angels

 

In this forgotten cropfield

that once grew soybeans,

it's a day in late winter,

still below freezing,

with a trace of snow remaining.

Sandhill Cranes toss stems and leaves.

With the slightest wing thrust

they rise effortlessly

eight feet up, then settle down

like winter angels.

They dance and call

and flare their wings

and toss and dance

and wait for spring.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Breaking the Silence

 

It seemed like the stars

appeared closer that night.

The quiet calm of the atmosphere

was overwhelming.

Cold air entered my lungs.

Snow crystals sparkled in snowy fields.

Then, from the tall pines,

a Great Horned Owl broke the silence.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Estero, Florida

Entering the Painting: "The Vineyards at Cagnes"

 

Leaning against an olive tree,

the lady sits contentedly

in her own private world.

Red blouse, blue skirt,

the wide brim of her hat

shielding the sun.

Apparently reading a book,

entering the story,

absorbing the narrative

in her delicate head.

Invisible to the reading lady,

I enter the painting.

Leaning on the other olive tree,

sitting in the summer shade,

wearing my ordinary clothes.

I observe the landscape,

and begin to write about

my pastoral impressions

and her captivating presence.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

"The Vinyard at Cagnes" ~ Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1908

Photo Location: Vero Beach Museum of Art - Vero Beach, Florida

facial features

 

you think I'm pretty?

you like my facial features?

Red-naped Sapsucker

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Madera Canyon, Arizona

Steady

 

Only when the moon is full

can you observe all of its bruises

through binoculars held steady

against the trunk of a tree.

Only when you stop

and engage the stranger on the street,

can  you learn of the troubles, struggles,

and adversities that have scarred him.

A life history that would remain unknown

from the safe distance of your car,

while driving the steady course of your life

along its predictable orbit.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Trophy

 

This Cottonwood tree,

its stout branches

feathered with frost,

stands statuesque

in serene solitude,

and solemn silence;

a silver trophy

earned and given 

for your endurance

and perseverance

into late winter.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

2. St.Patrick Church - Parnell, Michigan

The Open Ocean

 

No billboards, no power poles,

no high-rise buildings,

no traffic congestion,

no street lights.

Only the broad horizon,

the wide open ocean

revealing the curvature of the earth

where the sea meets the sky.

I've come here

to refresh my spirit,

to watch waves

wash the sandy shore.

To listen to the power

of the Atlantic.

To imagine the ocean open

from here to Africa.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Vero Beach, Florida

Aspen Eyes

 

Along these parallel lines

of hieroglyphics

that curve around

the aspen trunk,

a pair of eyes 

calling you close.

Happy to see you stop

and study

the lines of letters;

searching for 

possible words

in this volume of trees.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

West Elk Wilderness - Colorado

Voice of the Wind

 

The voice of the wind

intensified.

Then the front of the storm,

the brunt of the storm,

shouted at the earth,

and things growing from it.

Trees were wagging wildly

and flailing their branches;

trying to absorb the punishment,

waiting to return, 

with resilience,

to their quiet, patient lives.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

2. Louisville, Colorado