Watching and Waiting

 

I approach this mountain stream

with deep respect and admiration.

Walking upstream,

along the boulder-strewn bank,

accented with spruce

and Ponderosa Pines.

The sound of rushing water

is like a friend coming toward me;

it flows with companionship,

that I currently need more of.

I keep watching and waiting,

until it's time to move on.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Payette River - McCall, Idaho

2.  Elk River - Steamboat Springs, Colorado

Worthy Words

 

Enchanted by mountain streams,

I sit in my camp chair

and watch the Blackfoot River

flowing past Ponderosa Pines,

carrying water music to my ears.

On the high slopes,

Aspens whisper secrets

between branches of trembling leaves.

I wait with patience

for some suitable words to appear.

Words worthy of mountain streams

lined with Aspen and Ponderosa.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Blackfoot River - Greenough, Montana

2. La Plata Mountains - Colorado

"I Am Here"

While walking these rolling foothills,

ribbons of wind caress my face.

Morning light illuminates the

expansive dimensions of clouds.

Sunshine warms the cinnamon bark

of sturdy Ponderosa Pines.

My eyes are captivated by

vibrant wildflowers at my feet.

I inhale the 

masculine scent of sage.

My hearing is alerted by

small segments of birdsong.

As I continue on this path,

God says: "I am here."

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 6. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

2. 3. & 4. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

5. Goodwillie Environmental School - Ada, Michigan

Temple of Trees

 

While walking within

this temple of trees,

I stop and stand;

astonished among these

copper-colored steeples

that stand like monuments

reaching into the blue skies

of Colorado and Montana.

Ponderosa Pines,

perhaps a century old,

stand in solemn splendor

as I inhale the essence

of their vanilla-honey aroma

emitted from the sun-warmed bark.

I resume my walk

through these pillars of strength,

over the foothills

scattered with Ponderosa,

through the seasons of my life,

always grateful to enter

this temple of trees. 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Hamilton, Montana

2. 3. & 4. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

These Words

 

I have carried these words

over trails we've hiked,

lugged them down from

rocky mountains while walking

parallel to mountain streams

that call to me to stay awhile.

I have collected these words

among Ponderosa Pines

thriving in grassy meadows.

I have written these words

with the hope that what I can give

may be something you need,

and be graciously received

when you decide to read.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Glacier National Park - Montana

2. Blackfoot River - Missoula, Montana

3. Hamilton, Montana

Tularosa

A ponderosa-scented breeze

is delivered downstream

to this peaceful place

on the high bank

overlooking 

the Tularosa River

in New Mexico,

where I'm reading David Lee's

So Quietly the Earth.

Read, and look at my wife.

Read, then listen to the stream.

Read, and inhale the vanilla fragrance.

Read, then write about rivers and trees.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. & 3. Tularosa River - Apache Creek, New Mexico

Reluctant Poem

In the beginning,
this poem exhibited some reluctance
to cooperate (as you can see);
or even to ride along with me
at least until the next bridge
where we could have crossed it together
if we had gotten to it
in my pretty red truck.

But I stopped before the bridge,
got out, and began walking downstream
through this fine mountain valley.

Alone.

After I made it around the first bend,
I thought I heard the poem approaching;
sensed it getting closer to my brain,
perhaps changing its attitude.

Then, as I stopped, and looked back upstream,

there it was, indicating a desire to come along.
As it came closer, shyly at first,
I reached out to pat its shoulder. 

It gave me a little nudge.

The poem now became gracious 
in my presence;

and began pointing out a few things I might have missed:

Like the way the stream collected

the big sky and trees,

and returned these reflections for me to reflect on.

Like the sound of the current

that tumbled over and around
huge, smooth boulders.

It even called attention 
to the satisfied sound

of my own breathing,
as I inhaled the essence
of Ponderosa Pines.

I sat down in the pine-needled sunlight
to further absorb this pleasant landscape,

and hopefully become better acquainted

with this poem, and its intentions; 
but as I looked around,

it was gone. Just like that.

And long lines of words 
evaporated into the big sky. 

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. St. Ignace, Michigan

2. Buena Vista, Colorado

3. Bayfield, Colorado

4. Blackfoot River - Missoula, Montana

5. Bear Creek - Townsend Park - Kent County, Michigan

6. Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado

7. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

8. Hamilton, Montana

9. South Dakota  

I Sit

I sit.
Beneath this arch of sky,
under the sublime influence
of Lake Michigan;
scanning the far horizon,
trying to perceive the slight 
curvature of the earth
at the edge of the sky. 

I sit.
Sheltered in the green shade
of an enormous White Oak,
while the drowsy summer sun
warms the surrounding fields
abundant with the soft faces
of Queen Anne's Lace.

I sit.
On the bouldered bank
of the Arkansas River,
bordered with Ponderosa Pines;
exhilarated by the rush of current,
mesmerized by the sound of rapids,
and time,
racing 
past.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore - Michigan

2. Grand Haven State Park - Michigan

3. Dixon, Illinois

4. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

5. Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado

May You Walk V

May you walk along the ridge
above spring-green aspens vibrant in the valley. 

May you walk between clumps of sage
scattered and spaced over red dirt deserts.

May you walk among dense, dark ferns
unfurling on the floor of the forest.

May you walk under pillars of Ponderosa Pine, 
and inhale the aroma of butterscotch-vanilla-honey. 

May you walk, upon waking, in the morning woods
vibrant with the voices of vireos. 

May you walk on the ocean's sandy shores
resplendent with the rising sun.

May you walk through the seasons of your life attentive and alert,
with a joyful sense of gratitude.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Peaceful Valley, Colorado

2. Canyonlands National Park - Utah

3. Cinnamon Fern - Home Woods - Kent County - Michigan 

4. Pinesdale, Montana

5. Yellow-throated Vireo - Home Woods - 

6. Sunset Beach, North Carolina

You may also enjoy: 

May You Walk III  - July 20, 2015

May You Walk II - January 12, 2015

Return from the West

After returning
from the endless skies,
encircled by long horizons,
and driving the visible miles
on the plains of Kansas;

After viewing Colorado's
bouldered streams
and magnificent mountains
growing with tall spruces
and spreading Ponderosa Pines;

I am surrounded, again,
by this wall of green;
a thick, humid canopy
of Red Oaks and Black Oaks,
this density of summer leaves.

The far out
crowns of trees
are swaying in the wind,
brushing the sky
back and forth.

But down here
on the backyard deck,
only a breath of breeze gets through.
Enough to turn the page
of the book I'm reading,

and suggest an idea
for a new poem.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Buena Vista, Colorado 

2. Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado

3. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

4. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan 

Comfort

You could find comfort
in a place like this:

surrounded by
the soothing pull of silence,

the guaranteed gravity
of rushing rivers,

the vanilla fragrance
emitted from
sun-warmed Ponderosas,

wide views of big sky
that bulge with
afternoon cumulus,

the presence of mountains,
an open invitation
to enter

these images
of dreams
that could come true.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

 Photo Locations:

1. Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado 

2. Stevensville, Montana 

3. Flathead Lake - Big Arm, Montana 

4. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado 

Shadow of the Hawk

Hiking this bouldered trail
on my earth bound existence,
I am suddenly touched
by the passing shadow
of a Red-tailed Hawk.

Above these foothills
scattered with Ponderosa,
he is sailing in circles.


Below these cumulus
growing whiter and brighter,
he is dancing on the wind.

Under this intensely blue
Colorado sky,
this flying shadow
felt like a brief blessing. 

It was.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1, 2, 3: Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado 

4. Kent County, Michigan