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
Summer ripens into August,
spawning heat, haze, and humidity;
the air so still,
not a leaf moves.
The surface of the lake
so smooth, so still;
lily pads are glossy green plates.
A table setting on calm water.
I'm still waiting
for the next
rigorous thunderstorm
to arouse the atmosphere.
© 2022 Richard Havenga
You may also enjoy:
"Still 3" ~ December 16, 2021
"Still 2" ~ April 29, 2019
"Still" ~ September 12, 2016
Photo Locations:
1. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan
2. Ludington State Park - beach - Ludington, Michigan
The silky summer air
of June became
thick and oppressive,
like wet flannel
in the heat of August.
Yet the wildflowers
continued to flourish
in their due time.
The Cardinal Flower,
so red, so dazzling,
I am left breathless.
The elegance of
the tapered turrets
of Culver's Root.
The invasive, yet attractively pink,
Purple Loosestrife,
that we're not supposed to like, I think.
All flourishing
in the heat
of August.
© 2021 Richard Havenga
As this August evening cools,
a breath of a breeze
sifts through the screen
onto my head and shoulders,
brings soothing relief
after a week of humid heat.
I sigh, breathe deeply,
and continue to write:
about the bats
with their skittering flight
as dusk descends,
about the Snowy Tree Crickets
trying to synchronize their sounds
from the string section
high in the canopy of trees,
about the fireflies
flashing their yellow-green lanterns
under the darkening woods.
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Videos taken with Samsung Galaxy S-10 from Home Woods
