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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
An umbrella of cloud
covers the morning.
I study the form, density, and
altitude of these cloud bottoms.
Consider the potential
for afternoon rain.
Try to predict
without a weather map,
without a weather app,
today's forecast:
while it's still cool.
Weed my perennial garden
as the temperature slowly climbs.
Write on the deck
until raindrops make the words run.
© 2023 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming
2. Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan
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
