catkins

catkins in their prime

it's mid-May in Michigan

a warbler's delight

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. Red Oak - Home Woods

2. Cape May Warbler - Cannonsburg State Game Area - Kent County, Michigan

Witness II

here it comes again,

the irrepressible spring;

become a witness

© 2019 Richard Havenga

You may also like: "Spring Pastel" ~ May 19, 2014


Photo Location: 

Cannonsburg State Game Area - Kent County - Michigan

warbler's delight

catkins in their prime

it's mid-May in Michigan

a warbler's delight

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Yellow Warbler - Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County, Michigan 

Translation

The wind,
unhurried in its journey
to arrive somewhere,
strokes the slender
sensuous twigs swinging
from spring willows.

The wind
creates a concert
among the catkins;
more subtle  than woodwinds,
more delicate than
stringed instruments.

The wind's soft music
is playing without words.
Do you feel the desire
to read the notes?
Will the translation
be available in Heaven?

© 2015 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Thornapple River - Cascade Township - Kent County, Michigan

2. Blythefield Memory Gardens - Rockford, Michigan

3. Grand River - Ada Township - Kent County, Michigan

Catkins and Warblers

Following a long, 
brutal winter,
this welcome spring
offers willows
bearing catkins.

I see promise

in their pollen,
life in their leaves,
harboring tiny insects
to feed returning warblers.

April advancing into May.
Backlit by the sun.
Branches holding twigs.
Twigs displaying
candles of life.

Spring has been ignited.

Burning with the
flame of desire,
this lively Yellow Warbler
flits among catkins,
sings his sweet song, 
dances like fire.

©  2014  Richard Havenga

Listen to the song/call of the Yellow Warbler from Cornell Lab of Ornithology (Cornell)