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

First Chair

 

While crickets,

hidden deep in the night grass,

provide the background music,

a katydid,

wearing its leaf-green jacket

occupies the first chair

of this summer symphony.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Home Deck - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Let's Paint

 

Let's paint these walls

the color of Wyoming sage

thriving on the Antelope Flats

of Grand Teton National Park.

Let's carpet these floors

the color of fresh green moss

velveting rounded rocks

in this Michigan trout stream.

Let's paint these ceilings

the color of pure blue skies

rising above the Colorado

Rocky Mountains.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

2. Bear Creek - Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

3. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

Daystars

 

I'm walking in a fallow field

filled with the soft faces

of Queen Anne's Laces.

These flat-topped umbels,

are white daystars

of circling galaxies.

Sweet summer's

gathering of grace.

Growing with dignity

in common green fields.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

alpaca

 

good morning to you

time to eat some tasty grass

from my green pastures

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Grand Traverse County - Michigan

First Place

 

Look closely again,

at the intricate patterns

in the spring-greening trees.

In the following category,

"Pinnately-Veined Leaves",

I award First Place to...

AMERICAN BEECH !

Their narrow, tapered buds swell,

then unfold coppery sheaths,

to reveal tender young leaves.

Pleated green skirts

rise and fall in the breeze,

inviting your touch.

This award is your reward

for being present, and close

to the pulse of spring.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. 3. 4. & 5.  Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Sage Crush

 

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

Tamarack Tufts

 

These tight little bundles

of pale green needles.

Concentrated tufts,

soft to the touch.

Tender packets of life

emergent on Tamarack twigs.

Like batches of matches

rising to ignite

the green fire of spring.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Ccannonsburg State Game Area - Kent County - Michigan

Poet Trees

 

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

Strawberry Summer

 

Tucked under dark green leaves,

laying on their bed of straw,

warm June sunshine

ripens bright red berries.

Sweet, juicy and lucious.

Easy to pick with your fingers.

Delicious to taste with your tongue.

Sweet summer strawberries.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Kent County - Michigan

Elegant Gown

 

Through the dense green foliage

of my Red Oak woods,

at first I cannot spot

the Scarlet Tanager

as he unravels his song,

then my eyes are carried 

up into the canopy

of glossy leaves

where he sings his song

of short phrases

alternating high and low.

A performance that will last

through the dense green summer,

when I'll be privileged to get

a few, brief glimpses of

his elegant gown;

splendid elements

of black and scarlet red.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Scarlet Tanager Song: 

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scarlet_Tanager/sounds

Photo Locations: Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Green Doors of Spring

 

Under a sky-blue ceiling,

I open the green doors of spring.

The first words to appear

are like veins extending

in newly born leaves;

expanding to capture sunlight.

I feel the sense of longing;

the desire to hold back time.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

2. & 3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Flight of Words

 

I hurl these words up

into the prevailing wind

to see if they can fly.

They are carried away

across the fresh green lawn

to the margin of the woods,

then drift between the blossoms

of a Flowering Dogwood; where 

some words settle on the petals.

The remainder fall to earth,

muffled on a carpet of moss,

gratified by this brief flight.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Kent County - Michigan

Fields

 

An old pickup truck

clatters down the gravel road

pulling an elongated 

dust trail behind its load. 

The farmer slows down now

to inspect his crop fields;

corn on the north, soybeans south.

Wondering about future yields.

Dark green leaves

stretch for the skies,

reach for the sun,

photosynthesize. 

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Summer Theatre

 

He sat close to the window;

writing, and watching summer mature.

As the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds

zipped and sipped at the feeders and flowers.

And the Sandhill Cranes

yodeled from nearby wetlands.

As the White Water Lilies

floated their purity upon the lake.

And White-tailed Deer raised

another generation of fawns.

As wheat, stretching straight and tall,

ripened green to gold in dense rows.

And fireflies flashed green-yellow lights

in the silky dusk of evening.

As frequent thundershowers

kept the heartland green.

And the window to his world offered

daily scenes of summer theatre.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Feeders

2. McCarthy Lake

3. McCarthy Lake

4. Home Fields

5. Home Fields

6. Home Woods

7. Home Fields

Birdies While Golfing

 

Walking down the fairway

approaching my well-hit ball,

this challenging game of  golf

has several benefits for all.

At hole number one it's obvious:

you get to be outdoors;

observing dynamic skies

and all this nature can be yours.

I'm hearing Eastern Bluebirds

fly from tree to tree,

watching them snatch small insects

that I can't even see.

Then a Red-tailed Hawk 

sweeps and sails into view,

riding on summer thermals,

another distraction for you.

And down in the wetland,

a group of Canada Geese,

dabbling in shallow water,

paddling and feeding in peace.

And so by the time we begin

our putting at number eighteen,

I've scored a lot more birdies

than my partners from tee to green.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3.  Pickerel Lake Park - Fred Meijer Nature Preserve - Kent County - Michigan

Pleated Skirts

 

Get close enough

to the American Beech

in late April, so that

you can take its pulse,

and examine the

narrow, tapered buds,

sharp as a  pencil point,

and notice them swelling

until they unfold

their coppery sheaths,

to reveal young leaves;

soft, tender, and wearing

green pleated skirts.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. 3. & 4. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan