Pool of Poetry

 

My pen is poised

over this yellow pad

like a heron's beak

above the river's surface.

Ready to plunge

for a choice word

swimming in the dark water.

Probing the possibilities,

within the pool of poetry.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. North Fort Myers, Florida

2. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

Questions of Flight

 

Don't you admire the strong, confident

rhythm in the wingbeat

of the Great Blue Heron?

How about the up and down,

arching flight of woodpeckers,

undulating between the trees?

Or the linear, straight and fast

destintion-driven style

of most ducks?

You must enjoy trying to track

the swirling, swiveling, darting

ride of the swallows.

And aren't you fascinated by the

skilled precision and acrobatics

of any hummingbird?

Don't you admire bird flight,

and try to imagine what it might

be like to fly? 

Pure delight! 

Right?

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Great Blue Heron ~ Eagle Lakes Park - Naples, Florida

2. Pileated Woodpeckeer ~ Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Ring-necked Duck ~ Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

4. Tree Swallow ~ Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

5. Broad-tailed Hummingbird (female) ~ Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado 

Tops of Trees

 

The Great Blue Heron

flies with a rhythm of certainty

above the tops of trees.

From the rookery

in the tops of trees,

to the lake's shallow edge.

Steadily rowing the air,

not fast, but purposeful,

knowing where she needs to go.

Knowing what she knows.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

 

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Great Blue Heron Rookery - Undisclosed Location (for their protection)

3. Eagle Lakes Park - Naples, Florida

4. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

Wading

 

Wading in the residue

of this world we now live in,

I try to keep my focus

on the world outdoors.

I much prefer wading in 

clear mountain streams

than the digital streaming

on the flooded internet.

Wading the shallows

of lakes and rivers,

Great Blue Herons survive

on patience and persistence.

God, please grant me these traits,

as I watch and witness 

with wonder and gratitude 

your countless gifts of creation. 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Clark Fork River - Montana

2. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

3. Blackfoot River - Missoula, Montana

Feathered Sculpture

 

From my kayak, on calm water,

I watch the gray-blue

feathered sculpture

of a Great Blue Heron.

He stands on stick legs

in the soft shadows

of the smooth shallows,

as still as a dead branch.

Yellow eyes stare with intensity.

S-shaped neck ready to strike.

He leans slowly forward

with imperceptible movement.

But then a change of attitude:

He decides to leave the water;

lifting effortlessly on wide wings,

gaining altitude, legs dangling behind, 

rowing through humid summer air.

Seeking new water, a new site,

to resume stealth stalking

on stick legs, with a supple neck,

to stand as still as a sculpture.

I continue to paddle

in the soft shadows

along smooth shallows

gliding through humid summer air.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 3. Rogue River ~ Rockford, Michigan

2. Eagle Lakes Park ~ Naples, Florida

Blue Statue

 

The Great Blue Heron statue,

standing still in shallow water,

begins a slow-motion ballet.

A picture of patience,

leaning over its own reflection,

holding a pose of predation.

Cattail leaves swaying gently,

frame the backdrop for

the anticipated attack.

Living spear thrusts.

Calm water splashes.

Heron pierces prey.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Estero, Florida

3. & 4. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

If I Could

If I could give you
the sound of the rain
falling on leaves of grass
during a warm 
April shower;

If I could give you 
the sound and sight
of golden Aspen leaves
trembling on their twigs
in September elevations;

If I could give you
the steady flight path
of the Great Blue Heron
rowing through the 
humid air of July;

If I could give you
the gift of time
passing by slowly 
in the desert,
like an invitation;

I would.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Ouray, Colorado  

3. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

4. Canyonlands National Park - Utah

Hope of the Heron

Rising
with the pearled light of dawn,
on strong, broad wings,
he lifts into a soft rain.

Wings the color
of this overcast.

A few drops fall
from the tips of his toes
to dimple the surface
like countless other raindrops.

He flies away
with a hope
as large as this lake,
or the next one.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy these Great Blue Heron poems:

"Heron Dreams"  ~ April 13, 2013

"A Trace of Hope" ~ July 9, 2018

Photo Locations:

1. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

2. Murray Lake - Kent County, Michigan

A Trace of Hope

As evening settles slowly,
the last Great Blue Heron
of  your fulfilling day
rows his gray boat
over the wetlands,
back to the rookery.

Then the sky flares crimson
against the softening clouds
aflame for a moment
then gone too soon;
but you were out there.
You were a witness.

You stand still on the porch
as dusk seems to pause,
waiting for you to recall
the highlights of your day;

before you enter
the bright light inside,
where you can illuminate
the lives of others with
more than a trace
of hope.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Rogue River - Rockford, Michgian

2. McCarthy Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County, Michigan

3. Grand River (Jupiter Bridge) Plainfield Township - Kent County, Michigan

Lifts with Wings

A life,
unlike our own,
lifts with wings
above the dusk.

Gray upon gray,
as evening yields
with a sigh from
diminishing winds.

Heron lifts with wings
above the dusk;
finds a firm branch
to spend the night.

A life,
high enough 
for dreams
to be lifted. 

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Rogue River ~ Rockford, Michigan 

Warrior

Wading and walking
with slow stealth,
dark feet slip
into dark water;
barely a ripple,
graceful as a ballerina,

yet ready as a warrior
to thrust its spear,
to plunge with precision
at a silver minnow,
to pierce its silver scales;
or miss.

Now waiting again;
yellow eyes
intensely focused,
prepared for prey,
patient as a monk,
still as stone,
wading the wetlands,
stalking in silence,
this master of the marsh,
this fierce, feathered warrior.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan 

3. & 4. Eagle Lakes Park - Naples, Florida 

River's Edge

In the evening he stands;
stands still
as a pewter sculpture,
in stagnant water that's
covered with a living coat
of green duckweed.

In the morning, he wades;
wades the wide river's edge,
yellow eyes intense, alert,
feet frozen in time.

Within any unpredictable second,
his sharp, bold beak
could plunge
into dark water
like an orange spear.

Instant death
for a suspended fish.

Necessary meal
for a patient heron.

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Eagle Lakes Park - Naples, Florida

2. Ada Township - Kent County, Michigan

3. & 4. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

5. McCarthy Lake - Grattan Township, Michigan


Click on photos to enlarge.

A Great Blue Heron

Alert

Aware

Active

Asleep

Aflight

Abreast the Nest

All Groomed

A Banner

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Eagle Lakes Park - Naples, Florida

2, 3, 4, & 5 - Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan  

6. Cannon Township - Kent County, Michigan

7. Corkscrew Woodlands - Estero, Florida 

8. Bostwick Lake - Kent County, Michigan