How to Read Words

 

You are reading these words

as I have written them:

Transparent as Lake Superior's water.

Clear as the night sky in the desert.

Soft as the petals of Arizona's poppies.

Colorful as October woods in Michigan.

Generous as the ocean pushing onto the shore.

Fresh as spring daffodils in your garden.

Dependable as the seasons turning.

Striving as acorns aspire to become oaks.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Whitefish Point Bird Observatory - Upper Peninsula- Michigan

2. La Jolla, California

3. Wabasis Lake Park & Campground - Kent County - Michigan

Muted

Muted, yet still holding

a subdued vibrancy,

a palette of chrysanthemums 

on display at country farm markets.

 A cooler, dry atmosphere

carries fair-weather cumulus,

pushing them slowly eastward

where they pile up on the horizon.

Ripened acorns zip through leaves

and bounce off my inverted canoe.

A sound that signals

the approach of autumn.

Some fall warblers in muted colors

are in a feeding frenzy

as they move in waves

slowly southward.

These autumn days are magnificent,

but growing much shorter.

Warm light slants in at a lower angle;

muted, but welcomed.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Frugthaven Farm - Greenville, Michigan

2. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Naples Preserve - Naples, Florida

Carrying Hope

Look.

Look at everything
placed along your path,
before your line of sight,
around you, surrounding you.

Escape from your home,
your work, 
your car,
your phone!

Enter the wild woods and fields.
For an hour, leave your touch-screen
and touch green leaves.

Feel the minute hairs on the leaf,
the serrated edge, the slender petiole
connected to the twig of the branch;
branching from the trunk
that broke through the soil --

(50 years before television),
(90 years before internet) --

as a tiny shoot;
carrying hope
through its vessels,
and flowing with faith
for the future.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Fallasburg Park - Kent County - Michigan

4. Lowell Township - Kent County - Michigan

Seeds of Worship

The life inserted
into these trees
began as small seeds:

acorns, samaras,
nuts of all kinds;

created in spring or autumn,
taken down by gravity,
twirling on a breeze,
stashed by animals,
fruit from the trees,

recreated each spring,
seedlings become saplings,
as seasons shift,
as years pass,

within their
seeds of worship
these trees
plant perpetual praise
into fertile soil.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. The Havenga Farm - Grand Rapids Township - Kent County - Michigan

2. Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan 

3. & 4. Findlay Cemetery - Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan

5. Boulder Creek Golf Club - Kent County - Michigan

Early Autumn Stage

As summer settles
into September,
asters and goldenrod
accept the invitation
for this month
of transition.

Yellow and gold,
purple and lavender,
assume their places
on this early autumn stage.

In the background,
from the percussion section;
acorns and hickory nuts
begin to pound the ground,
zip through layers of leaves,
bounce off the inverted canoe.

And in the evening,
as the air cools,
crickets slow their song.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 3. Grattan Township - Kent County, Michigan

2. & 4. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

September Stage

As summer settles
into September,
asters and goldenrod
accept the invitation
to audition
for this month
of transition.

Yellow and gold,
purple and lavender,
assume their places
on this September stage.

In the background,
from the percussion section,
acorns and hickory nuts
zip through the leaves,
pound the ground,
and bounce off my
inverted canoe.

During these cooler nights,
cricket calls seem calmer
as they continue to crank out
their calibrated wing rustles;
soft stridulations 
with temperature affecting
their measured notes.

The stage is set.
Harmony prevails.
The audience approves.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

blue

bold, screaming Blue Jays

piercing the morning stillness,

searching for acorns

©2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

gravity

it's their time again

acorns zipping through oak leaves

gravity bullets

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Grand Detour, Illinois

2. Townsend Park - Kent County, Michigan