It usually takes
only a few good words
to get a poem started.
Maybe an old photograph
from the archives of time;
black and white memories.
Photos I can pinpoint
on the map of my mind,
the irreplaceable ones.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Harlem, Montana
The Gray Catbird
begins his daily report
while hidden
in the twigs
of this leafy spring.
Occasionally,
he nudges out to the edges
of the dense brush,
where we can admire
his dark, rich gray,
and his narrow
black beret.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
There are seventy-five years
of distance between me,
and the black and white photograph
of a little boy on a rope swing.
My father, Richard,
made this rope swing;
tied to a high tree branch,
sturdy and strong like he was.
My mother, Lillian,
who took the photo in 1951,
said I was a shy and quiet little boy.
I would like to get
inside his head.
I would like
to give him a push.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan
At the front edge of dawn,
on this morning in May,
a chorus of birdsong
reaches my grateful ears;
becomes an aria
to start my day.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Prothonotary Warbler - Kalamazoo River - Allegan State Game Area - Michigan
2. Bobolink - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
Dawn is a gift,
given to you
every day.
A gift you can open
each morning
you find yourself alive.
A new day,
golden with opportunity,
silver with possibility.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Lowell Township - Kent County - Michigan
2. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming
At such a great distance,
the stars seem indifferent.
But the yellow moon rising
feels close, like a friend
who wants
your attention.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Location:
Crooked Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
These poems I write
don't just exist in the mist.
They're not merely collections
of reflections orbiting on the internet.
They are alive, and speak
with a voice you can hear.
Contain a robust curiosity.
An investment in creativity.
A place you can enter
again and again.
Meet in particular places.
Like friends coming together.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. 3. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan
This is a hallowed land.
A sacred place,
consecrated by
the holy waters
of this mountain stream.
Where words rush by
in mystical motion.
Incomprehensible.
Inscrutable,
yet profound.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado
You're out here with purpose.
Walking through your own woods,
to witness these spring-loving birds
returning to their home territories,
or just passing through
on their northern migration.
It's just another reason
you love the month of May.
To listen to the songbirds
and the warblers
singing to each other,
singing to the sky.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Scarlet Tanager - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
2. Bay-breasted Warbler - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan.
3. Black and White Warbler - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan.
Let me
open the door for you;
and together,
with me here in the present,
and you out there
in the future,
we can communicate
and appreciate
the beauty of nature;
God's magnificent creation,
as we sail
through our separate
and sublime
seasons of life.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. St. Elmo, Colorado
2. DuBois, Wyoming
3. Fountain, Colorado
From a distance,
they are splendid in the spring.
These lovely understory trees
featuring delicate blossoms
with pure white sepals.
And close-up, they offer
an elaborate view
of their intricacies.
Protruding from the borders
of hardwoods in May,
in Michigan;
Flowering
Dogwoods
flowering.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Kent County - Michigan
Are you using
your time on this earth
to watch and wonder,
to wait for the next
miracle to occur
in your world?
Everyday,
you are surrounded
by the beauty and bounty in nature.
Each day is an invitation
to give thankful praise
for God's creation.
You are a vessel
waiting to be filled,
until it pours over with gratitude.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Shagbark Hickory - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michiga
2. Pink Lady Slipper - A Kent County Park - Michigan
3. Thistle - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
4. Santa Catalina Mountains - SaddleBrooke, Arizona
Good morning Brown Pelicans
plunging into the gulf.
Hello turquoise ocean
and the clattering
leaves of palms.
Hello tropical waters,
welcoming me again
to a sunshine state of mind.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 2. Sanibel Island, Florida
3. Fort Myers, Florida
4. Vero Beach, Florida
good morning to you
time to eat some tasty grass
from my green pastures
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Grand Traverse County - Michigan
April and May
in Michigan:
a slow dance with green.
First the early wildflowers
emerge from warming soil.
Then the understory
fills with Honeysuckle
and Black Cherry saplings.
Along the edge of the woods,
Redbud and Flowering Dogwood.
Finally, in the canopy,
occupying oaks
produce a profusion
of buds swelling into leaves,
inviting migrating warblers
to lunch in their twigs.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Trout Lilies - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
2. Honeysuckle - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
3. Flowering Dogwood - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
4. Red Oak canopy - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
5. Chestnut-sided Warbler - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
Tender, but tenacious shoots
emerge from the soil.
Arise and expand
into magnificent plants,
reaching for the sun,
yearning for the light.
Flourishing
in humble beauty, like Hepatica,
or flowering with flamboyance
like Peonies.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan
2. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
Look closely again,
at the intricate patterns
in the spring-greening trees.
In the following category,
"Pinnately-Veined Leaves",
I award First Place to...
AMERICAN BEECH !
Their narrow, tapered buds swell,
then unfold coppery sheaths,
to reveal tender young leaves.
Pleated green skirts
rise and fall in the breeze,
inviting your touch.
This award is your reward
for being present, and close
to the pulse of spring.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. 3. 4. & 5. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
I spend the early morning hours
pulling poems into creation.
They arrive quietly,
and the poems that cooperate,
I massage into meaning.
Hoping for spiritual significance
to become visible
between the words.
Like the purity of petals
on the spring-blooming Bloodroot
when the venous leaf
unfolds its grip
because the sun
has warmed the way.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
Yellow braids
of Weeping Willow.
Supple and flexible,
collect soft spring light.
A welcome sight
after a rigid winter.
Tender twigs,
slim and slender.
A sensuous dance
with warm April air.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. & 3. Plainfield Township - Kent County - Michigan
4. Thornapple River - Ada Dam, Ada, Michigan
