Practicing Goodbye

Memories rise and fall
with the undulating waves.

Remembering washes over my mind,
then retreats down the wet slope of sand.

Like creation in front of me,
like creation repeating the past.

Like a flock of gulls rising together,
then landing together.

Like sensing the amenities of heaven,
or the sense of heaven.

Like practicing how to say goodbye
when it's time to leave or time to die.

Like the tide coming in and going out,
coming in and going out...

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Sunset Beach, North Carolina

2. Cape Perpetua - Yachats, Oregon

3. Holland State Park Beach - Holland, Michigan

4. Neptune State Scenic Viewpoint - Oregon

Signal

In this up-north country,
we await the signal
from September
that we know
is coming.

You know the one.

It appears on clear,
calm mornings.
Silver crystals cling
to blades of grass.
Fallen leaves
are edged in ice.

It's a signal
that the old welcome
after long summer heat.

But the young want
one more chance
to jump into the waves
of Lake Michigan, 
before they jump
into rows of desks
to face their future. 

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Townsend Park - Kent County, Michigan

3. Holland Beach State Park - Holland, Michigan 

Wind Song

The wind sings with many voices.
Time passes swiftly without a sound.
We stand on our planet spinning silently in space. 

Every day is full of quiet promise,
with more to see, more to discover,
more to admire in our sense of place. 

All this time we wait for his return;
or to be carried from this world,
like a voice on the wind, by grace.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Holland State Park - Lake Michigan Beach - Michigan 

3. Sunset Beach - Atlantic Ocean - North Carolina 

Intentions

Another spring arrives
with endless opportunities
to watch the speed of life
accelerate,

to witness again
the miracles occurring,

intentionally taking time
to capture a few of the gifts
going by,

to wrap them up
in this poem
and give them
to you,

with the intended grace
by which they were received.

New birds returning,
wildflowers rising,

and children;
their faces
growing with promise.

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Bloodroot - Grattan Township - Kent County, Michigan

2. Round-leaved Hepatica - Townsend Park - Kent County, Michigan

3. Scarlet Tanager - White Pine Trail - Rockford, Michigan

4. & 5. Mayapple - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

6. Tulip Time Festival - Holland, Michigan