Daystars

 

I'm walking in a fallow field

filled with the soft faces

of Queen Anne's Laces.

These flat-topped umbels,

are white daystars

of circling galaxies.

Sweet summer's

gathering of grace.

Growing with dignity

in common green fields.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Cage of Snow

 

The umbrella of

Queen Anne's Lace,

once vibrant with

light and grace,

now stands stiff

and browned with age,

curled inward

to form a cage.

Stems still tall and erect

holding little tufts of snow,

and within the small cage,

next year's seeds to grow.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Perfect Grace

 

In the dead center

of the radiating rays

of the Queen Anne's Lace,

a speck of deep purple.

Have you noticed?

Or are you still

trying to overcome

your infatuation

with the perfect grace

of her white face?

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Passing Seasons

This spring and summer have passed too quickly.

I missed entirely the hidden, drooping blossoms 
of the Mayapple.

When did the Wild Columbines display
their scarlet crowns adorned with yellow?

Wild Black Raspberries have already ripened,
with Dewberries and Wild Blackberries soon to follow.

Queen Anne's Lace is thriving
along roadsides and abandoned fields.

I do not want the summer's end
to bring on the goldenrods and asters.

It will mean the approach of autumn,
and remind me of too much time
spent reading books and writing
about opportunities lost;
when I should have been
out walking everyday
in fields and woods,
along rivers and streams,
and feeling grateful for
these daily blessings
that make up the seasons
of my life. 

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan

3. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

4. & 5. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

6. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

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

The Invitation III

I am out walking again,
exploring the fields and woods,
scanning the lakes,
following the streams.

Cloud shadows
race across the foothills,
pushed by the wind.

Bobolinks appear,
then disappear
in deep grass.

Bulging cumulus
pile into white mounds
in the afternoon sky.

Delicate saucers
of Queen Anne's Lace
nod in the warm sun.

Summer quickens, ripens,
and waits for you
to open your invitation.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy: 

"The Invitation II"   ~ January 16, 2017

"The Invitation" ~ May 6, 2013

Photo Locations:

1. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

2. Allenspark, Colorado

3. Grattan Township - Kent County, Michigan

4. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

5. Home Fields - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

6. Home Fields - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michgian

Journal Entries II

December 5, 1976                    High  30°          Low  18°      Snow =  5"

© 2012 Richard Havenga

December 5, 2012            High  26°        Low  20°     Snow =  2"

© 2012 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy Journal Entries - November 27, 2012

Photo Locations: Home Woods, Home Fields

full of grace

I walk
through flat galaxies
of small-petaled stars

full of grace
and soft light;

little prayer circles
filling summer fields.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Her Grace

Queen Anne's Lace,
slighter denser than fog,
bow their soft faces
until the silver moisture is shed.

Rising then, to greet
the late morning sun,
these little lace umbrellas,
thriving in the fields,
go unnoticed by most.

But you,
by your presence,  
respect the common; 
give tribute and dignity 
to her grace.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan 

Generous Gestures

The dignity of cumulus clouds
towering into the atmosphere.

The welcome warmth
of luxurious summer 
warming the skin.

The delicate crowns
of Queen Anne's Lace
nodding in the sun.

Feeling the glow
of these generous gestures,

my soul resonates;
astonished
by the intricacies of nature,

singing with silent praise
about the endless gifts
of creation.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy:

"gestures" - August 11, 2014

"Gesture II" - February 5, 2015 

Photo Locations:

1. Pickerel Lake Park ~ Fred Meijer Nature Preserve - Kent County, Michigan

2. & 3. Home fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

embracing winter

embracing winter,

Queen Anne's Lace holds pure crystals

undisclosed beauty 

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Finding Gifts

I listen to the voice within
that asks me every day:
"What gifts did you find today?"

Did you walk the shaded trail,
where last spring's Jack-in-the-Pulpit
has transformed into a scarlet cluster ?

Have you felt the 
generosity of rain
washing your skin,

and witnessed 
rain rings 
dimpling 
the surface of a lake?


In weedy fields
that thrived under summer sun,

what has become of the
Queen Anne's Lace,
now that it's winter?

Do the crows use
a different language

in December versus May?

Remember these
bee-filled blossoms of June,

that the seasons changed into 
snow-filled berries of Hawthorn?

Does astonishment
still rise up
from the familiar;

from the fertile soil
of appreciation? 

What more can you wish for?

"I yearn to hear again,
the cascading call
of the Canyon Wren;

when my breath holds,
when my eyes close,
because you are that close."

The gift given; and received.
My thanks becomes praise,
and a promise to share.
May it be so.
Amen.

© 2014 Richard Havenga

Listen to the call of the Canyon Wren. 


Photo Locations:

1, 2, 8, & 9 - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan 

3. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County, Michigan

4, 5, 6, & 7. Grattan Township, Kent County, Michigan

10. & 11 - Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County, Michigan

12. Bryce Canyon National Park - Utah