Driving

 In Memory of

 Aaron Havenga   April 2, 1975 ~ November 20, 1994

Driving late at night,

still a long way

from our destination.

Very few cars

on this remote highway.

I'm playing

some of his favorite music

from the Grateful Dead

inside the warm cab of my pickup,

while driving through

the cool, Colorado rain. 

Driving into the future,

I feel like these headlights,

and even though I strive,

I cannot see everything

that may be out there.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Steamboat Springs, Colorado

2. Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area - Utah

Authority

 

The rain upon the windows

sounds different this fall

compared to last spring.

In the background,

ambitious clouds are murmuring,

craving freezing temperatures again.

Recalling the influence of snow

upon the land, upon people's lives;

eager to restore its authority.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area - Wyoming

2. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

"Why do you drive?"

They ask:
"Why do you drive, when you could fly?" 
I answer:

 to see the breadth of the land,

 to feel the expanse of the sky,

 to experience the weather,

 to sense the mass of the mountains,

to encounter the wildlife,

to hold all this in my mind,
to contain it in my soul,
to share it with you.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Monument Valley - Utah

2. Flathead Lake - Montana

3. Flaming Gorge - Utah

4. Pray, Montana

5. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

Benevolence

Tubular clusters
of orange Butterflyweed
umbrella summer grasses.

Delicate petals
of wild Rose
beautify country roadsides.

The luxurious
summer solstice
has matured into mid-July.

Benevolent rain clouds
begin to build
promising needed moisture.

Where will
today's journey
take me?

How will I write
about my love of the land,
and all the gifts it holds?

I shall let this poem end
and feel the rain 
softly upon my shoulders. 

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Luton Park - Kent County - Michigan

2. Spring Creek Road - Almont, Colorado

3. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan 

4. Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area - Utah 

5. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado