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
I always look up
when I hear the geese
approaching, nearer and nearer.
Here they come, arranging
and rearranging themselves
into intentional V's.
I must count them;
can't help myself,
while I listen to the directions
they're calling to each other.
To glean from the
newly-harvested cornfield,
or glide down onto McCarthy Lake;
a splashing, clashing, clamor of sound,
then returning to quiet.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 2. Home Sky - Cannonsburg, Michigan
3. Pickerel Lake Park - Fred Meijer Nature Preserve - Kent County - Michigan
4. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan
It's mid-April
in mid-Michigan.
A drizzly mist,
intimate as tears,
is shed by the clouds.
Overcast, with the promise
of a greening spring.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
2. Gavin Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
3. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan
Weeping Willows may be
in love with the invisible
winds of spring.
Watch them dancing together.
Waltzing, flowing, undulating.
A captivating choreography.
Braided yellow hair.
Swinging in the air.
Visibly graceful.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Thornapple River - Ada, Michigan
2. Plainfield Township - Kent County - Michigan
for Aaron Havenga (April 2, 1975 ~ November 20, 1994)
The first light to pierce the dawn
reminds me of your radiant smile.
I miss your warm presence
during the long hours of daylight.
Until the long hours of night,
when sleep becomes my friend.
Inside the vague territory of dreams
when the missing you is missing.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming
