Knowing When

 

Please read these words

slowly.

They arrived after careful,

purposeful searching.

Some people say that writing

is not work,

but writers know 

the work of writing.

Occasionally, but rarely,

the words pour down,

like a sudden, summer

thundershower.

But most of the time

the words arrive slowly,

like the gradual, daily growth

of new leaves in the spring.

Writing requires patience, persistence,

and perceptive discernment,

to know when

you have it right.

Knowing when

it's done.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Bird Island, North Carolina

2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Senses

 

Can you taste

the salty water on your lips

while being thrashed by Atlantic waves?

Or smell the freshness

of spring soil

during an April rain shower?

Can you see diamonds

in the morning dew

sparkling on blades of grass?

Or hear the

melody of the Wood Thrush

singing from his secret woods?

Can you feel the gifts

placed all around you,

waiting for your discovery?

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Sunset Beach, North Carolina

2. Lee County - Illinois

3. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Maybe Tomorrow

 

Sitting at the shoreline again,

watching shorebirds feeding.

Waiting for the right words

to come in with the tide.

Perhaps they will arrive today.

Maybe tomorrow.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. La Jolla, California 

2. Sanibel Island, Florida

3. Sunset Beach, North Carolina

Under the Dome

 

Under this dome of blue sky,

splashed with clouds of white,

a long strip of sand and

a vast expanse of ocean in sight.

A palette of blues playing

with shadows and light.

Filling me with 

inexpressible delight.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Sunset Beach, North Carolina

2. & 3. Vero Beach, Florida

The Edge

 

Aren't we all

irresistibly attracted

to the edge of the ocean,

because when we gaze

across this vast space

supporting a limitless sky,

we strive to contemplate

eternity?

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Sunset Beach, North Carolina

Compass

 

Like the pull of the earth

on a compass needle,

he was drawn in all directions

to explore diverse geographies.

Mountains, plains, deserts.

Rivers, lakes, streams.

Atlantic, Pacific, Great Lakes.

North, South, East, West.

Encouraged by desire.

Motivated to travel.

Restored by hope.

Inspired by the Spirit.

Every road trip,

all the hiking trails,

each photo excursion,

made him feel alive.

Born to be 

a "ramblin' man".

Always leaving,

always gone.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Deck

2. Florence, Arizona

3. Lake Michigan - Grand Haven, Michigan

4. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

5. Atlantic Ocean - Sunset Beach - North Carolina

6. Sandhill Cranes - Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge - New Mexico

Weather on the Moon

 

If there is no weather on the moon,

I would never want to live there.

I prefer the atmosphere here,

since my birth on the earth.

Take me climbing in the Rocky Mountains,

or walking the Lake Michigan shores.

I will trek the Arizona deserts,

or stroll the Atlantic Ocean beaches.

I can see the moon from any place here,

so why would I want to go there?

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. West Elk Wilderness - Colorado

2. Florence, Arizona

3. Sunset Beach, North Carolina

4. Fort Myers, Florida

 

Angels of the Sea

 

Angels of the sea

rise up

along the curve

at the arc

of a wave.

Silver-blue gowns

trailing mist,

lustrous with light.

Is this where

earth meets Heaven?

At the arc

of a wave?

In the luminous skirts

of sea angels? 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Sunset Beach, North Carolina

The Shiny Ocean

 

I long to hear the song

of the shiny ocean

gliding onto shallow shores,

polishing the slopes of sand

with brief  shimmering light,

again, again, again.

I want to return

to the seashore

to watch the shorebirds

dancing in and out,

leaving tiny, temporary tracks

along the reach of the surf,

that rinses away 

any trace of their tracks.

To witness the Brown Pelicans

flying in formation

close to the surface, then

plunging their massive bodies

headlong into the water;

coming up with a scoop

of cold fish soup.

After these many winters

hiking dry desert washes,

I thirst for the sensation

of waves washing my feet,

and the wide horizon curving away,

carrying shiny ocean dreams.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Neptune Beach - Oregon

2. Sunset Beach, North Carolina

3, 4, & 5. Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park - Naples, Florida

Approach

 

Approach each day

with eager anticipation

for the gifts

we are about

to receive.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

2. Sunset Beach - North Carolina

kissing

 

the lips of spent waves

along the shallowing shore

kissing the moist sand

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Sunset Beach- North Carolina

Words Given

The gift of words
provided by the Holy Spirit
offers the opportunity to create,
stimulates the capacity to write;

to give glory and praise
to the Creator
for words given.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Sunset Beach, North Carolina 

2. Buena Vista, Colorado

God Speaks

Behind the silent stillness,
and within commanding storms,
God speaks an exclusive language
beyond our mortal words.

How to listen?
How to embrace
the grace of our days?

Simply carry these gifts
as grateful people,
and lay them at his altar
as worship.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Grand Haven Lighthouses - Michigan

2. Sunset Beach - North Carolina

3. Glacier National Park - Montana

Calm

He seemed to be surrounded
by a calm stillness;
a calm that he wore
with comfort. 

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Sunset Beach, North Carolina

Walk With You

Upon the shoulders of mountains,
under the vast roof of stars,
I will walk with you.

Along the ribbons of rivers,
along the shallow shore,
I will walk with you.

In the cathedral of trees,
on desert paths of cactus,
I will walk with you.

Within choirs of birdsong,
and evenings of crickets,
I will walk with you.

All the days of this life
God has given me to live,
I will walk with you.

Please come along
on this trail of life,
and walk with me.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. West Elk Wilderness - Gunnison National Forest - Colorado

2. Crested Butte - Colorado

3. Sunset Beach - North Carolina

4. Tucson, Arizona

5. Cannonsburg State Game Area - Kent County - Michigan

6. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

Reverence

Reverence comes over me
while sitting in deep silence
under the forest canopy.

Reverence flows through me
while watching
the river's steady current.

I inhale it with eyes closed
while standing in a 
wildflower meadow.

I absorb it
like the sounds of birdsong
becoming memories,

or when 
ribbons of wind
wrap around my ears.

I feel it surging
while walking barefoot
on ocean's sandy shore.

Reverence resides in my soul
when I'm a guest
in the mansion of mountains.

Even when I'm too old
to walk the shore,
to hike the trails,
and wander the meadows,

I will not lose
this sense of reverence,
because I carry it
inside my heart,
within my soul.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Snake River - Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

2.  Elk River - Steamboat Springs, Colorado

3. Along St. Mary's River - Glacier National Park - Montana 

4. Indigo Bunting - Egypt Valley State Game Area - Kent County, Michigan

5. Sunset Beach, North Carolina

6. Glacier National Park - Montana