Pearls

 

A gauze of fog

softens the dawn.

Microscopic droplets

collect on the web.

Threads of silk.

Strings of pearls.

Making the invisible

visible.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: 

Oxbow Bend ~ Snake River - Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

Let's Paint

 

Let's paint these walls

the color of Wyoming sage

thriving on the Antelope Flats

of Grand Teton National Park.

Let's carpet these floors

the color of fresh green moss

velveting rounded rocks

in this Michigan trout stream.

Let's paint these ceilings

the color of pure blue skies

rising above the Colorado

Rocky Mountains.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

2. Bear Creek - Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

3. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

Four Horses

 

These four horses' asses

that were grazing on grasses

now ignore the photographer

who's not offended

who likes the contrast

of browns and blacks

against the pale green sage

in the rolling summer hills

above the aspen grove

below the blue-gray clouds

east of the Grand Tetons

in northwest Wyoming.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Gros Ventre Road - Kelly, Wyoming

Gold and Silver

 

Dawn is a gift,

given to you

every day.

A gift you can open

each morning

you find yourself alive.

A new day,

golden with opportunity,

silver with possibility.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Lowell Township - Kent County - Michigan

2. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

Opening Doors

Let me

open the door for you;

and together,

with me here in the present,

and you out there

in the future,

we can communicate

and appreciate

the beauty of nature;

God's magnificent creation,

as we sail

through our separate

and sublime

seasons of life.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. St. Elmo, Colorado

2. DuBois, Wyoming

3. Fountain, Colorado

Long Hours

 for Aaron Havenga  (April 2, 1975 ~ November 20, 1994)

The first light to pierce the dawn

reminds me of your radiant smile.

I miss your warm presence

during the long hours of daylight.

Until the long hours of night,

when sleep becomes my friend.

Inside the vague territory of dreams

when the missing you is missing.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

Sage Crush

 

My legs brush the sage

hanging over the trail.

I crush the pale green leaves

and rub them between my hands.

Inhale the masculine scent

that blankets these high plains.

Continue along this trail

that rises with the foothills.

The higher mountains beyond,

remain always in view.

While following the path

scented with sage.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. & 2. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

3. San Juan National Forest - Colorado

The Next Dimension

 

While living

our extraordinary lives

here on earth,

we cannot comprehend

the next dimension

which could be our future.

The final destination

we are yearning for

deep inside our souls.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

Out Here

 

Even clean air,

seen through many miles,

like in western Wyoming,

or the Colorado Rockies,

can haze the distant mountains.

I am out here, attentive,

wrapped in time's presence.

Ready for an elk sighting,

a moose in a lake,

or a distant meadowlark

making music 

from his throne

on a wooden fencepost.

In between the meadowlark's calls,

in the space between mountains,

God speaks in silence.

I am out here.

Listening.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

2. Telluride, Colorado

3. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

4. & 5. Mancos, Colorado

Geography of Dreams

 

The inner landscapes of my mind

have been shaped by a language

learned and discerned

from connections with nature.

Mountains, meadows, woods and fields.

Rivers, lakes, oceans and streams.

They blend together to become

the geography of my dreams.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Canyon de Chelly - Arizona

2. Wyoming

3. West Elk Wilderness - Colorado

Small Herds of Horses

 

From afar,

I have always loved

small herds of horses,

and the mountain meadow

pastures where they live

with apparent contentment.

These large, beautiful animals,

grazing in the grass,

in the shadow of mountains.

I can sense

a peaceful, easy feeling

of intimacy with the land.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

3. Cut Bank, Montana

 

Into the Silence

 

Confortably content

in this remote wilderness,

we climb the shoulder

of this massive mountain.

Feel its dependable permanence.

We've escaped the noise

of the world left behind

and follow this hiking trail

into the silence.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. West Elk Wilderness Area - Colorado

2. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

Poet Trees

 

I have removed the obstacles.

Tossed aside the branches and sticks.

Raked away the fallen debris.

And now the trail is smooth for you.

Won't you please enter my poet trees?

The words are clear and accessible.

The light shimmers through the trees.

An inviting path of discovery;

a gift for you,

from me.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Ohio Creek Pass - Crested Butte, Colorado

2. Snake River Overlook - Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

God's Voice

 

God speaks to me without words:

In the spectacular inflorescence

of dependable, seasonal wildflowers.

The mist blowing off

the crest of ocean waves.

Through the sweet songs of birds

unraveled effortlessly.

The music playing in the rapids

of a rushing mountain stream.

The atmospheric light

dancing with sky, clouds and rain.

Beauty in nature is not essential, 

it's God's voice within gifts of creation.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

2. Sanibel Island - Florida

3. Cannonsburg State Game Area - Kent County - Michigan

4. Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado

5. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

More

 

I have urged myself

to love this world,

and it has loved me

in return.

I have shared

its gifts,

the quiet secrets,

its hidden treasures.

I have chosen

beauty and mystery

from the intricacies

of nature.

Each time I respond

with sincere gratitude,

I am given more,

always more to discover.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Wild Columbine ~ Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

2. Avalanche Lily / Glacier Lily ~ Snowy Range Mountains - Wyoming

3. Lupine ~ South Fork, Colorado

Finishing

 

I'm waiting expectantly

for this morning's sunrise.

Hoping to be filled

with luminous light,

and a few creative words

inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Starting with receptivity.

Finishing with gratitude.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

Turning Pages

 

An ambitious wind

rises with the sun,

pushes its way through the day.

Twists tiers of leaves

to expose their undersides,

dances with towering tree tops.

Carries cumulus clouds

from west to east

over your sky view.

Tickles your skin.

Furrows your hair.

Freshens your face.

Turns your book's pages

before they've been

read. 

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

2. Joliet, Illinois

3. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Home Deck - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Song of Our Lives

 

The river of time flows endlessly,

carries the song of our lives in our place.

Will you sing of the blessings

you've been granted through grace?

Will the list be so long

that your complaining is replaced

with gratitude for life, and 

precious time in your space?

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Snake River - Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

2. Columbia River - Hood River, Oregon

3. & 4. Grand River - Kent County - Michigan

Long Road

 in memory of Aaron Havenga (April 2, 1975 ~ November 20, 1994)

The long pain of grief

cannot be ignored,

but after twenty-nine years,

it can be absorbed;

endured by a gracious heart

and a long life of gratitude

for continued blessings

down this long road

I did not choose.

I no longer wander around

like a lost child, but

walk forward firmly in faith,

powered by a brave heart.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: 

Centennial, Wyoming