Subtle Tones

 

During autumn's

popular splash of colors,

you may have missed

the more subtle tones;

when green ferns

turn into gold,

and blueberry fields

lay carpets of deep crimson.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. McCarthy Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

2. Ottawa County - Michigan

Bridge

 

I'm standing 

in a rain shower

with my back to the sun.

Suspended in the atmosphere,

a vibrant bridge between

earth and clouds.

Colors arching briefly;

a visual gift

of rainbow design.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Shallowing Waves

 

I am mesmerized,

hypnotized by the ensemble

of dark, mellowing light

on the shallowing waves

of Lake Michigan

as they slide gently

upon the shore;

colors fading into subtle

as the day calms

into evening.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Grand Haven State Park - Michigan

Soft Lips

 

There is no color quite like it.

I'm talking here about the

golden-yellow-orange

of these California Poppies

that flower in dazzling abundance

in Arizona's Sonoran Desert.

When a warm spring

follows a wet winter,

they spread a golden carpet

over this dry land

to enchant the casual observer.

Bring joyous color

for the serious photographer

to capture a close-up view.

The yellow-gold intensifies.

Deeper, vibrant, fully alive.

Create lovely images

in the mind

of this grateful poet

when the desert breeze

kisses the soft lips

of poppy petals.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

Picacho Peak State Park - Arizona

Patient Pioneers

 

Along the boulder's

curving roundness,

circular splotches of lichen

cling tightly to the hardness.

Existing and persisting

for possibly a hundred years.

Weathering the rocks,

penetrating the pores.

Patient pioneers;

crustose creating

colonies of color.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Acadia National Park - Bar Harbor, Maine

2. Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

3. Grand Mesa, Colorado

Kaleidoscope

 

These attractive stones

lying on the bottom

of the Kootenai River

are massaged by

the continuous current,

magnified by shallow water;

turned into a kaleidoscope 

of moving, liquid color.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Kootenai River, Montana

Outdoor Ballet

 

Here it comes again;

the annual autumn

medley of leaves.

All the talk is about the colors,

the intensity, the "peak week",

where to drive or walk

for the perfect peek.

Or simply watching

these golden slippers;

a gathering of grace

as they flutter-fall to earth.

A short-lived display.

An outdoor ballet.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

2. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

3. Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan

4. East Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

Basket of Hope

 

Behold.

The mystery;

the potential miracle

of unhatched eggs.

Placed in a soft cup

of dried grasses,

into a woven

basket of hope.

Elegant eggs

dappled and splotched

with earthy colors.

Being incubated,

nurtured for the 

invisible future.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home Gardens - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Tulips

 

After months of patience,

buried in the frozen soil,

these bulbous globes

send their shoots up,

break the ground,

grow toward the sun.

Tight green buds

open into soft cups

of delicate petals.

Explode with color,

achieve their days

of fulfillment.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. 2. 3. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Holland Tulip Time Festival - Holland, Michigan

Heaven Between the Trees

 

Now that the sun has

migrated back to the north,

I don't have to wait as long for

first light to turn into first color,

for morning to open the day.

The birds wake earlier

and stay later in April.

American Goldfinches

are beginning to show color;

slight hints of yellow feathers.

In about four to six weeks,

all of our colorful warblers

will be migrating and singing

their parts in the sweet choir

in the temple of our woods.

Heaven between the trees.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Lowell Township - Kent County - Michigan

3. Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

Unwrap Your Gifts

Bring forth the relevant gifts

that God gave you

and unwrap them.

Share with the world

your passions, your talents,

your desire to create or compete.

Run your miles.

Take your photographs.

Write your words.

Make your music.

Sing your songs.

Dance your steps.

Bake your pies.

Pray your prayers.

Love your family.

Thank you for your 

valuable contributions

and the gifts of your talents.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

 

October's Opulence

 

After getting battered

by this leaf blizzard,

I am now shuffling through

a multi-colored mosaic;

a layer of crisp leaves

covering this woodland trail.

I'm dazzled again by 

October's opulence.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Sumac

 

As September merges with October,

Staghorn Sumac captures our attention.

Displaying a pleasing palette

of bold autumn colors.

Perfectly pinnacle leaves aligned.

Flaunting red, orange and yellow

on sharp-toothed leaflets

tapering to their tips.

Crowned with clusters

and clumps of fuzzy berries

in burgundy and scarlet;

our showy, native shrub.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1, 2, 3, & 4. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

Sounds Like Praise

 

As dawn expanded into morning,

I watched this piece of earth

fill with radiant light.

A breeze stirred the leaves,

and colors awakened

in summer wildflowers.

Listening to the quiet start

of this brand new day,

birdsong sounds like praise.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Glacier National Park - Montana

3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

One More October

 

Yes, we are all dazzled

during these glorious days of autumn.

We knew this was coming;

waited with patient anticipation.

Now we are surrounded

with the splendor of the leaves.

Wanting to slow down time,

to make the show last longer.

To linger in warm yellows,

bold reds, soft oranges, and russets.

To store it in our memories

until it returns next year.

One more palette of color.

Give me one more October, please.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

2. Ouray, Colorado

3.  4. & 5. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

6. Egypt Valley Country Club - Kent County - Michgian

7. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

Covenant

 

Where the sunlight

pierces the rain

is where you'll find

the arc of the promise.

Within the visible

spectrum of color,

where the truth

is revealed.

Where your

imagination rests

at the joining

of sunshine and rain.

A radiant vision.

This luminous covenant.

More translucent

than transparent.

Resplendent,

but inscrutable.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home road - Cannonsburg, Michigan