When a small chevron of geese
flies very low overhead,
just clearing the reach of trees,
with the late, lowering sun
golden on their underwings;
it makes my heart dance,
and makes my soul sing.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - San Antonio, New Mexico
2. Home Skies - Cannonsburg, Michigan
Thousands of Sandhill Cranes call
and fall from the blue New Mexico sky.
With their wings held in stutter-flight,
coasting, braking, decelerating,
the cranes fall to earth, descend
into a great cacophony of sound.
A commotion of feathers
and feet on the ground.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - New Mexico
How could these Sandhill Cranes
ever realize the admiration
I have for their elegant grace
while flying through sky-blue sky
with their wingtips curved up,
feathering the golden air of autumn?
© 2023 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 2. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - Arizona
There is a place inside yourself
where meaningful thoughts are trapped
and are seeking a way to escape.
If you enter this quiet chamber,
you will awaken the mystery of writing,
and find a way to share your words.
Your inner voice no longer hushed,
but confident, creative and true.
Your presence painted on the page.
© 2023 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - New Mexico
2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
Birds fly
with a dependable rhythm.
They trust
the thrust of their wings.
Have faith
in their fine feathers.
Move with
conviction and grace.
Know how to ride the wind,
sail the transparent air.
Beyond the sublime,
toward the divine.
© 2023 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge
3. Home Sky - Kent County - Michigan
Does your breath
come faster and deeper
when you're flying
versus perching?
Like when I'm running
versus walking?
How often and how long
do you rest while migrating?
Maybe every ten to twelve hours
like when I'm driving cross-country?
How exactly does your navigation system work?
Is it similar to my truck's GPS?
How do you build such cool
and functional nests
with only two feet and a beak?
We need manufactured materials;
lumber, metals, plastics,
and a plethora of power tools.
How is your diet so simple;
seeds, insects, berries, worms and larvae?
We plant, process and package
our protein and nutrition.
How long will you,
your particular species,
survive and multiply,
if we first do you no harm?
© 2022 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Swallow-tailed Kite ~ Collier County - Florida
2. Yellow-headed Blackbirds - San Pedro House ~ Sierra Vista, Arizona
3. Snow Geese ~ Bosque del Apache NWR - San Antonio, New Mexico
4. Yellow-throated Vireo ~ Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
5. Cedar Waxwing~ Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
6. American Avocet ~ Mono Lake, California
7. White-crowned Night Heron ~ "Ding" Darling NWR - Sanibel Island - Florida
The morning fog is a silk shawl
sliding over this November wetland.
Hanging upon dark silhouettes
of dying willow trunks.
Beneath the willows, ghost-like geese
swim slowly on still water.
Water that will soon transform
into the white fire of ice.
Ice that triggers departure
for this small, local flock.
A flock that will join
a larger formation.
A formation flying
farther south
in the efficient
V-shape.
A shape that has
served their lives
for all time.
They know when it's time.
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 3. Grattan Township Kent County - Michigan
2. Home Wetland - Cannonsburg, Michigan
4. Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - SanAntonio, New Mexico
how much we long for
the grace we see in the flight
of these Sandhill Cranes
© 2021 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
Bosque del Apache - National Wildlife Refuge - San Antonio, New Mexico
