Hopeful Voices

  

It's on these early spring days

that we reconnect with the renewable earth,

as cold soil softens and awakens,

that we sip at the drink of hope.

Eager for the buds to swell

on the tips of tapered twigs.

Earnest for the buds to unfurl

their tender young leaves.

The spring warblers will return

to feed among the trees

for hidden insects and larvae,

and to sing their songs of hope.

Repeating songs of past years.

Fulfilling our anticipation and longing,

as they cast their hopeful voices

into the warming spring air.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Red Maple ~ "Mom & Dad's Farm"

2. American Beech ~ Home Woods

3. Cape May Warbler ~ Cannonsburg (Egypt Valley) State Game Area

Punching Out Cancer

 for Lisa

We all harbor a subdued fear

that it may show up in our lives.

You came out of your corner

not expecting this formidable foe.

You accepted the grim prognosis.

Considered it a challenge to conquer.

You put on the gloves

and prepared for the fight.

Your faith in God and self-confidence

was an invincible team. 

You kept pounding your enemy

until it gave in, gave up.

But you never gave up hope,

and now you are a champion!

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

TITLE Boxing Club - Grand Rapids, Michigan

Shattered

 to Volodymyr Zelenskyy

They built a refuge of hope,

watched their borders,

and waited for the world's response.

Tanks and shells,

bombs and artillery,

weapons and missiles;

an arsenal of destruction

rained upon their homeland,

destroyed their dreams.

They fought the ruthless enemy,

a merciless, brutal tyrant;

as civilians died

in their homes,

in their schools,

in their hospitals.

Their refuge of hope

was bombed and burned.

Citizens of Ukraine

now praying to God

through shattered windows.

Waking each morning

to face  vacant days

and hollow tomorrows. 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Currents

 

Age, a slow current

through my body.

Blood, a slow stream

through my vessels.

Hope, a steady flow

through my soul.

Honey Creek, a dark ribbon

weaving through white winter woods. 

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: 

Honey Creek - Seidman Park - Kent County - Michigan

Contours of Creation

 

Inside the contours of creation,

God hides while we seek.

From the vast oceans of the earth,

or within the least little raindrop,

He is present in His creation.

In the first glimpse of sunlight

at the edge of dawn,

He is shining bright with promise.

In the last glimpse of sunlight

before the arrival of dusk,

He is shining bright with hope.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Muir Beach Overlook - California

2. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Estero, Florida

November Light

 

The light in November

changes slowly, subtly. 

The sun,

when it does shine,

sneaks in at a low angle,

with patience.

You finally accept

that warm summer days

are long gone,

and autumn colors

have faded out.

You begin to admire 

shades of brown.

Yet, the sun,

when it does shine,

carries a subtle hope

for tomorrow.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

Supplication

The branches
that arch over this trail
form a cathedral;

and remind me
of the blessing
in our church
when the parishioners
extend their arms
into the sacred space
arching above their souls
while a prayer for healing
is conferred upon the sick,
and enhanced
by our plentiful palms;

like all the leaves
in the woods
reaching for the sun.

Supplication sustained by praise.
Hope hinged with belief.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

2. & 3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Riding Clouds

Clumps of clouds
cling to to each other.
Mingle and merge
along their soft borders.
Drift en masse 
with atmospheric winds.

In my imagination,
I ride these clouds;
looking with admiration
at the green earth,
this familiar landscape,
and the geography of hope. 

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Canyon de Chelly National Monument - Arizona

2. Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada

3. Bluff, Utah

Large Hope

This small chickadee
sings with a large hope.

Chick-a-dee-dee-dee-ing
into the January cold.

Play: Cornell Labs - Black-capped Chickadee


Photo Locations:

1. Cascade Township - Kent County - Michigan

2. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

3. Chief Hazy Cloud Park - Ada, Michigan

Time to Play

The children climb 
off the school bus
with promise in their faces,
with hope in their hearts.

They eat the
chocolate chip cookies
mommy baked for them,
then change into their old clothes,

because when he gets home,
Daddy will make time,
Daddy will take time,
to play outside.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy: 

"A Father's Day Message" ~ June 20, 2015


Photo Location: Kent County - Michigan

Carrying Hope

Look.

Look at everything
placed along your path,
before your line of sight,
around you, surrounding you.

Escape from your home,
your work, 
your car,
your phone!

Enter the wild woods and fields.
For an hour, leave your touch-screen
and touch green leaves.

Feel the minute hairs on the leaf,
the serrated edge, the slender petiole
connected to the twig of the branch;
branching from the trunk
that broke through the soil --

(50 years before television),
(90 years before internet) --

as a tiny shoot;
carrying hope
through its vessels,
and flowing with faith
for the future.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Fallasburg Park - Kent County - Michigan

4. Lowell Township - Kent County - Michigan

Atmospheric

Preserve the dawn.
Extend the dusk.
Embrace the midday sun. 

Let me linger longer
within this atmospheric
light show.

Not through mere windows,
but outdoors, encompassed by
this magnificent dome of blue
connecting distant horizons.

Eventually,
familiar constellations
will appear,
and I will wait 
with hopeful anticipation
for another tomorrow.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Snake River (Oxbow) - Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

2. SaddleBrooke, Arizona

3. Arcadia, Michigan

4. Catalina, Arizona

Fence Line

Erected years ago
to control cattle.

Now weathered by
sun, snow, wind and rain.

Aging with dignity,
graying gracefully.

Former trees holding
knots within wood grain.

Part-time perches for
hawks, meadowlarks and bluebirds.

A straight line
pointing to the future.

Measuring the passage of time,
and the geography of hope.

© 2019 Richard Havenga 

Photo Locations:

1. Stanley, Idaho

2. Telluride, Colorado

3. Pagosa Springs, Colorado

4. Estes Park, Colorado

5. Del Norte, Colorado

6. Centennial, Wyoming

7. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

Hope of the Heron

Rising
with the pearled light of dawn,
on strong, broad wings,
he lifts into a soft rain.

Wings the color
of this overcast.

A few drops fall
from the tips of his toes
to dimple the surface
like countless other raindrops.

He flies away
with a hope
as large as this lake,
or the next one.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy these Great Blue Heron poems:

"Heron Dreams"  ~ April 13, 2013

"A Trace of Hope" ~ July 9, 2018

Photo Locations:

1. Rogue River - Rockford, Michigan

2. Murray Lake - Kent County, Michigan

These Blessings

Once again
I come outside
to greet the dawn

to watch the morning
climbing through its colors;

to hear the early crows
calling in the distance;

to smell the moisture
emitting from the rained-upon soil;

to feel the breeze
lifting the arms of trees;

to see the dew
rolling off leaves of grass;

to praise the Creator
for these blessings,
as we await the blessed hope.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Bushnell, Florida 

2. Steele Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County, Michigan