The tight flower bud
is a potential prayer.
Developing quietly.
Swelling slowly.
Unfolding gradually,
until it becomes
a wide open blossom;
the delicate petals
offering this
full-bodied prayer.
Giving praise and reverence
to the creator.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 2. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
The Juncos have returned
to southwest Michigan
after breeding and nesting
in northern Ontario.
In October and November
I watch them feed
on the minute seeds
of my garden weeds.
Their dark eyes shine
from the slate-colored head
as they pick at the stems
with a pale pink beak.
In winter they scrape and claw
frozen ground under the feeders
with a scritch-scratch,
forward and back.
From the gray tail,
narrow white feathers
flare and flash as they
hop and bop around the shrubs.
Then, some decide to leave,
and a dozen or more
hurry away to catch up.
This small flock of chittering chips.
© 2023 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
After months underground,
gripped by frozen soil,
Snow Drops defy the snow,
respond to the cold light
of an early March morning.
© 2023 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
American Goldfinches,
singing while flying,
undulate through the blue sky;
like yellow wildflowers
wavering in the wind.
They land in the garden
to feed on the seeds of Cosmos.
Perched and balanced
on the stems of windflowers.
© 2022 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Gray-headed Coneflower ~ Ratibida pinnata - Luton Park - Kent County - Michigan
2. Woodland Sunflower ~ Helianthus spp. - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
3. & 4. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
Each new flower
in my perennial garden
begins to open, as slowly
as a small thought.
Then,
bursting with its
assigned color, and
displaying its unique
inflorescence,
it proclaims
at its climax
in a compelling
announcement:
"I am created.
I exist.
I flourish.
Look at me!"
© 2022 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. ~ Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
An American Goldfinch
dropped out of God's blue sky
to visit my garden of annuals.
He landed on an arching stem
of Cosmos, and rode it
until it stilled.
Then, balanced there,
like a little lemon drop
with a snazzy black vest;
he pecked and picked ripening seeds
with his pointy orange beak;
each time tipping his jaunty black cap,
grateful for each fragment
from this little garden,
then back to the blue sky and gone.
© 2022 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. & 3. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
