Between Here and There

 

From here,

in the Sonoran Desert,

I can see the pines

outlined along the ridge

of the Santa Catalina Mountains.

In that expansive space

between here and there,

a single raven rides the air.

Broad, black wings glossy

in the wide blue sky.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Arizona

Visibility

Out here in the desert
my words evaporate
and rise into high, thin cirrus,
and parallel bands of stratus.

Miles of space
between me and the
Santa Catalina Mountains.

Space that absorbs thought,
and evokes daydreams,
as I spot places in the foothills
that I want to climb.

The visibility
so close to infinity.

Already these words
are vanishing.

©2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. SaddleBrooke - Arizona

A Moment

 

If you are reading this, could you

please step outside for a moment?

I will need an accurate description

of the clouds, if you have some,

and the direction they are drifting,

if you have time to observe.

Next, could you name the leaf

that is fluttering past your face;

explain the shape of the lobes

and the pattern of its veins bulging underneath?

Also, would you identify all the birds

you are seeing and hearing,

with precise names for their colors,

and exact translations of their calls?

While you are out there,

hopefully in the quiet country,

I would like a thorough report

on the quality of light that surrounds you.

If you are still reading,

and if you have a moment,

please send your entire narrative to me,

or, if you want more time,

continue your collection of perceptions.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Kamloops, British Columbia

2. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

3. Elegant Trogon ~ Patagonia State Park - Arizona

4. Santa Catalina Mountains - Arizona

Until

A pink flush spread
into the clouds at dawn,
until the rising sun
transformed them into pewter.

The transparent wind
arrived with stealth,
until it became visible
bending the cattails.

The Wood Warblers
sang their sweet songs,
until the Red-eyed Vireo's
constant calls controlled the  air waves.

 The floor of the forest
was littered with brown,
brittle pine needles,
until the Pink Lady's Slipper
exploded in eye-catching ecstasy.



Photo Locations:

1. Santa Catalina Mountains - Oro Valley, Arizona

2. Muskegon River - Michigan

3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

At the Edge

As the smooth silk of dusk
approaches the edge of night,

music within the soft breeze
tapers into a quiet calm.

A time for contemplation
at the hard edge of old age.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Moran, Wyoming

2. Moran, Wyoming

3. Santa Catalina Mountains ~ Arizona

Dawn Gives Birth to Color

For John D'Amico

Sitting on a boulder,
surrounded by desert,
savoring the silence,
lingering in solitude.

Darkness has dissolved. 
Morning has broken.

Before shadows arrive,
dawn gives birth to color.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Saguaro National Park ~ West -Tucson, Arizona

2. Pontatoc Canyon Trail - Santa Catalina Mountains - Tucson, Arizona

3. Finger Rock Trail - Santa Catalina Mountains - Tucson, Arizona

Light

"I am the light of the world, says the Lord; 
whoever follows me will have the light of life." John 8:12

"Live as children of light..." Eph. 5:8

"To love beauty is to see the light." ~ Victor Hugo

Photo Locations:

1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan  

2. La Jolla, California 

3. Gallatin Range - Pray, Montana 

4. Santa Catalina Mountains - Tucson, Arizona 

Stone Chalice: Sound Within Silence

While the desert below
exhales the evening,
up here on the granite ridge
twilight is held briefly
upon the surface 
of golden pools.

I accept the invitation to sit,
to watch, to listen, 
and absorb.

These bones of granite
cup this fluid 
of the earth.
Tinájas. Water pockets.
Small chambers of
liquid stillness,
waiting to play
Sonoran music in these
Santa Catalina Mountains.

Boulders squeeze
these pools into tiny, 
dripping sounds,
like the smallest
of hand bells; 
played by the very hands
of creation.

Now, years later,
as in trying
to recall a dream,
it is difficult to 
remember this 
sound within silence,
this stone chalice,
while waiting 
for another miracle.

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Santa Catalina Mountains, (Coronado National Forest)  Tucson,  Arizona