Questions of Flight

 

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 

360 Days

 

We've waited a long

three hundred sixty days

for a brief view

of this lovely Trout Lily;

newly emerged from

the beige leaf litter,

from the sun-warmed soil

of these spring woods.

It would be worth

a kneel-down,

a minute for a meet-up,

to get to know

her delicate curves

rising between mottled leaves,

and the red-pollened anthers

of its short life span. 

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Tops of Trees

 

The Great Blue Heron

flies with a rhythm of certainty

above the tops of trees.

From the rookery

in the tops of trees,

to the lake's shallow edge.

Steadily rowing the air,

not fast, but purposeful,

knowing where she needs to go.

Knowing what she knows.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

 

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Great Blue Heron Rookery - Undisclosed Location (for their protection)

3. Eagle Lakes Park - Naples, Florida

4. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

gift given twice

 

the gift given twice

first his birth then sacrifice 

the ultimate price

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: 

Our Lady of Light Catholic Church - Estero, Florida

How to Get There

 

Sometimes, the words

flying around inside my brain,

are like a massing flock of blackbirds;

swooping, looping, dipping, dropping,

landing in the crowns 

of leafless trees.

How do they not collide?

At other times the words

organize themselves;

seem to have a direction

and purpose,

flying in an orderly allignment,

like the neatly arranged chevron

of Canada Geese,

or Sandhill Cranes,

that know where they're going

and how to get there.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. & 3. San Pedro River - Sierra Vista, Arizona

4, Home Skies - Cannonsburg, Michigan

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