In September,
especially if it's been dry,
trees lose their leaves
singly, and casually.
But by mid-October
it becomes full release.
A massive display,
an elegant ballet
of twists and turns.
Colored leaves
sifting through branches.
Falling gracefully
through cool autumn air.
I imagine each leaf
a moving prayer.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Tiffany Avenue - Kent County - Michigan
2. Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan
3. Home Trees - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
I am eager to discover,
in the heavenly realm,
the mysteries experienced in this world
during our human existence.
Will we understand then
what we cannot comprehend now?
The miracles of creation on earth?
Our bodies as temples of the Holy Spirit?
When all is finally revealed,
the joy will be overwhelming.
I am ready.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Grand River - Grand Rapids, Michigan
2. Santa Catalina Mountains - Oro Valley, Arizona
3. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan
Back in the days
when I was running longer miles,
I remember an American Kestrel
perched on a wire above
the gravel road I was on.
As I ran closer,
he lifted up effortlessly
on blue-gray wings
contrasting with his bronze back,
and flew farther down the line,
perhaps four hundred yards.
When I caught up to him,
he went airborne again,
his tail flared like a fan,
continued three hundred yards
down the line,
and perched on the wire.
I felt bad that I was
disrupting his hunting, and
searching for prey in the short grass
along this country road.
Finally, the Kestrel hovered
briefly, before returning,
back to his original perch.
Free again from disruptions.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Marco Island, Florida
My God sends me
frequent invitations
to open the door
and go outside.
I always rsvp, and bring along,
as the invitation requests,
the gift of my senses;
my awareness and appreciation
of his awesome creation.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan
2. Creede, Colorado
shadows of grasses
dancing on warm summer dunes
choreography
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Location:
Whitefish Point - Upper Peninsula - Michigan
When the burning tears
of extreme grief
fall from our blurry eyes,
God's kind mercy
will carry us
through the valley,
beyond the shadows,
and after an appointed
period of time,
into the warm light
of healing compassion.
We do not walk alone.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Saguache, Colorado
2. Taylor River Reservoir - Colorado
Leaving the hardwood forests
of my native Michigan,
I curl under the curve
of Lake Michigan on the map.
After enduring Chicago traffic,
I drive past the lush and productuve
soybean and corn fields
of northern Illinois and Iowa,
then the land opens up before me
in the near western plains.
The flat, Platte River weaves
its shallow course through Nebraska.
Large, durable Cottonwoods,
toughened by less rainfall,
line the river's banks;
their broad, brittle leaves
clatter in the wind.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
You are that leaf
freshly fallen
onto the small stream.
Floating first on smooth water,
then riding the ripples
above a bed of pebbles,
then over rocks
and rising rapids
to be churned and turned
and twisted underwater.
At last settling
near a sidebank
in a festival of colors
where your
autumn gold attitude
still reflects the sun.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Grand River - Knapp Street Bridge - Kent County, Michigan
2. Page Creek - Fallasburg Park - Kent County - Michigan
3. Bear Creek - Townsend Park - Kent County - Michiagn
September is their season.
Clinging to tree trunks and large limbs.
The flamboyant Virginia Creeper.
Climbing columns of crimson.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
2. Vergennes Township - Kent County - Michigan
3. Ada, Michigan
You may also like my creative non-fiction essay titled:
"Virginia Creeper" published October 9, 2012. Here is the link:
If I should ever be summoned,
I would be a willing witness.
When placed on the stand,
I would raise my right hand,
and swear to tell the truth,
and the whole truth,
so God would help me recall
the multiple miracles of creation
that I've witnessed outdoors
during my life of abundant blessings.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan
2. SaddleBrooke, Arizona
When the rainshowers began,
the lake lost its transparency,
removed its reflection.
Ten-thousand shivers
danced on the water.
Absolute acceptance.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado
2. Pickerel Lake Park (Fred Meijer Nature Preserve) - Kent County - Michigan
Way up here,
in northeast New England,
I climb the granite slope
that slides into the Atlantic.
Kelp clings to wet boulders
at low tide.
At the top of the ridge,
pines and spruce anchor in the sparse soil.
A thin fog creates
a satin veil over the water.
Small islands, mounded and forested,
rise from the quiet bay.
First impressions
are lasting impressions
from my first visit to
Acadia National Park.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
Acadia National Park - Bar Harbor, Maine
A Ruby-throated Hummingbird
just came to my library window
to thank me for the four feeders
I filled and maintained for five months.
"Your presence was my pleasure,"
I say, as I wonder which day
in September will be their last,
before they fly away.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Home Feeder - Cannonsburg, Michigan
In memory of Lillian Havenga: October 22, 2022 ~ September 2, 2021
For support while walking,
she leaned on the walls
of her dementia,
with small, shuffling steps.
Eventually, the walls
closed in around her,
until she no longer
felt stable when standing.
Lying on her back
in the narrow bed,
she hopes the ceiling
will hold back the walls.
She tries to accept
this next stage of life;
with diminishing dignity
and just a touch of grace.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
I have so much space
out here in the quiet country.
Over ten acres of our own woods
to walk, to explore, to learn.
Sometimes during my walks,
I just stop and contemplate
the blessings of this experience.
Each season provides a reason
to get outside and love this place.
I'm learning to listen better.
Not just to our loyal birds,
that I truly love,
but also listening to the quiet.
A privileged pleasure
that I always treasure.
I promise to take care of this space
and to share what I learn with grace,
until I can no longer roam,
and I'm brought back home;
returned to my starting place.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. & 7. All photographed in our Home Woods.
This Song Sparrow is calling out
to the whole world,
which to him
is a few acres.
And I'm the only human
to hear his proclamation.
He doesn't seem to mind
my trespassing in his kingdom.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Home Acres - Cannonsburg, Michigan
Confortably content
in this remote wilderness,
we climb the shoulder
of this massive mountain.
Feel its dependable permanence.
We've escaped the noise
of the world left behind
and follow this hiking trail
into the silence.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. West Elk Wilderness Area - Colorado
2. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming
Under this dome of blue sky,
splashed with clouds of white,
a long strip of sand and
a vast expanse of ocean in sight.
A palette of blues playing
with shadows and light.
Filling me with
inexpressible delight.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Sunset Beach, North Carolina
2. & 3. Vero Beach, Florida
Standing firmly
on the sand dunes
above Lake Michigan,
I'm intrigued, again, to view
the barely perceptible
curvature of the earth.
Contemplating the infinite horizon
where water meets the sky
at the edge of time.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Location:
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - Empire, Michigan
A mid-August rain
soaks the thirsty soil.
Signs its signature by
churning the lake's surface.
Listen to it hissing, swishing.
Water splashing water.
Rain softening the earth.
Earth sighing and soothed.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan
2. Murray Lake - Kent County - Michigan
3. Villa Grove, Colorado
I'm walking
in the welcome shade of August
along this quiet country road.
Dense clusters
of Common Orange Daylilies
flourish in the heat;
one new bloom each day
on each plant stem.
A late summer orchestra
of orange trumpets flaring
at the top of each stalk.
An abundance of ordinary
at the side of the road,
ready for your investigation,
worthy of your appreciation.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
Home Road - Cannonsburg, Michigan
