Cottonwoods

 

Leaving the hardwood forests

of my native Michigan,

I curl under the curve

of Lake Michigan on the map.

After enduring Chicago traffic,

I drive past the lush and productuve

soybean and corn fields

of northern Illinois and Iowa,

then the land opens up before me

in the near western plains.

The flat, Platte River weaves

its shallow course through Nebraska.

Large, durable Cottonwoods,

toughened by less rainfall,

line the river's banks;

their broad, brittle leaves

clatter in the wind.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. & 3. North Platte, Nebraska

cottonwoods

 

a wedge of warm wind

whispers through the cottonwoods

settles to silence

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Broken Bow, Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway ~ Nebraska

The Platte

 

Long, narrow islands

grow slowly over the years,

by inches, by a few feet

in the Platte River.

Ever-changing sandbars

are made and remade,

formed and transformed.

by a slow, shallow current,

meandering, weaving

between massive cottonwoods

that fortify the river banks.

Some of the cottonwoods were

born when horses pulled wagons

east to west through 

the long state of Nebraska

along the curves of the Platte,

carrying all of its past

in the slow current 

into the future.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. & 3. North Platte, Nebraska

Cottonwoods

A cluster of Cottonwoods

gathers along the Platte River

in Nebraska. 

The prairie wind

creates a clatter

in the congregation

of brittle leaves.

I listen carefully.

Their conversation is

about the far horizon;

recalling their shimmering youth,

before roads paved the prairie.

When badgers and buffaloes belonged. 

© 2021 Richard Havenga

During Daylight

Driving through the dark,
passing through these prairies,
I try to perceive the vastness;
imagine what I'm missing
beyond this tunnel of headlights.

During the daylight,
paralleling the Platte River
through Nebraska,
broad, bold cottonwoods
tower above the flat land.

During the daylight,
Meadowlarks 
perch on posts;
cast their liquid songs
into the dome of sky.

During the daylight,
crops of corn
germinate, generate
work and income
for men in tractors.

During the daylight,
rusted blades of
deserted windmills
are fixed in position,
stranded in time.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Hershey, Nebraska

2. Hesperus, Colorado

3. Harmon, Illinois

4.  Hugoton, Kansas

Clatter

broad cottonwood leaves

clatter by the Platte River

stirred by prairie winds

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Platte River - Ogallala, Nebraska