Visibly Graceful

 

Weeping Willows may be

in love with the invisible

winds of spring.

Watch them dancing together.

Waltzing, flowing, undulating.

A captivating choreography.

Braided yellow hair.

Swinging in the air.

Visibly graceful.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Thornapple River - Ada, Michigan

2. Plainfield Township - Kent County - Michigan

Airborne

 

I would think that

the wing muscles of angels

would get tired from being

constantly airborne.

Apparently, they never rest;

with all the protective services

they provide for the living,

keeping people out of trouble.

They seem instantly available

whenever you have a

close call with danger.

Their anticipation is amazing.

Even when they're down here,

say on the head of a pin,

they are still in continual motion,

dancing away on that tiny space.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Grand Rapids Art Prize ~ 2013 ~ DeVos Hall

Fingers Dancing

 for Quyen:

Are we hearing music

streaming from Heaven

when you play the piano?

The silky smoothness

of song played

with color and light.

We watch the graceful movement

of your fingers dancing,

sliding across ebony and ivory.

I listen to your pure voice

with my eyes closed,

imagining the gates of Heaven.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: St. Patrick ~ Parnell

Three Season Dance

An arching willow branch

dangles in the Thornapple River,

dancing with the current.

Resistance meets persistence.

The dance goes on...

lasts for three seasons.

Then the ice comes.

The music stops.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Leslie Tassell Park - Cascade Township - Kent County - 

Grand River - Kent County - Michigan

  

dancing with the wind

thriving on the earth

grasses brush the summer breeze

dancing with the wind

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Steamboat Springs, Colorado

slow dancing

Loose columns of vapor;
ephemeral silver spirits
in translucent gowns,
slow dancing to 
autumn music. 

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Mc Carthy Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County- Michigan

September Morning

While I was walking
through this September morning,
Goldenrod invited itself
into my poem.

So I welcomed its
color and structure
into my Naturalist's head,
noticed the yellow sprays
of arching florets,

watched bees
plunging for pollen,

but more than
Botanical biographies,
I observed
with uncommon senses
the enhancements 
offered here and now:

here;
commonly clogging
the forgotten fields,

now;
announcing
the introduction of autumn.

These golden towers of life;
alive and dancing
in the light
of a new day.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1, 4, & 5. Home Fields & Woods

2. & 3.  Townsend Park - Kent County, Michigan

dancing with boulders

breath from the river

visible as silver mist

dancing with boulders

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: 

Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado

Snow Fog

Day after Christmas.
December meltdown.
Warm air strokes cold earth.

Snow fog

escapes from the woods,
floats over the fields,
dances with the wind.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Grattan Township - Kent County, Michigan

Shadow of the Hawk

Hiking this bouldered trail
on my earth bound existence,
I am suddenly touched
by the passing shadow
of a Red-tailed Hawk.

Above these foothills
scattered with Ponderosa,
he is sailing in circles.


Below these cumulus
growing whiter and brighter,
he is dancing on the wind.

Under this intensely blue
Colorado sky,
this flying shadow
felt like a brief blessing. 

It was.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1, 2, 3: Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado 

4. Kent County, Michigan

gestures

dancing in sunlight

grasses brush the summer breeze

with graceful gestures

Squirrel Tail Grass - Elymus elymoides, Sitanion hystrix

Photo Location:  Steamboat Springs, (Steamboat) Colorado (Colorado)

one hundred thousand

An early sun
climbs into July,
warming the air
among these trees.

One
hundred
thousand
leaf blades
on this towering
Cottonwood
begin to quiver
in the fresh breath
of morning.



Then the breeze
holds its breath.

The petioles pause;
firm in their flatness,
motionless.

Now the wind returns
to repeat the wavering,
to resume
the green flags fluttering.

The curved teeth
along the margins
biting the wind.

One
hundred
thousand
leaves
dancing
to the sound 
of their own 
music.

©  2014 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Grattan Township, Cascade Township - Kent County,  Michigan  (Michigan) 

Eastern Cottonwood - Populus deltoides

The River Dancing

The river keeps flowing by,

whispering under the stars,

murmuring under the sun,

carrying within its cold current 

words to songs impossible to write.

The Blackfoot River;

bouncing between boulders,

winding by willows,

pushing past pines.

The purity of river music

would be diminished by words,

so I  linger on the riverbank,

grateful for the gift of time,

witnessing the water

swirling with poetry.

Art in perpetual motion.

Time flowing forward. 

Water dancing with the land.

© 2014  Richard Havenga 



You may also enjoy: The River Singing  September 17, 2012

Photo Location: 

Blackfoot River,  (Blackfoot)  Missoula,  (Missoula)  Montana  (Montana)