Last Days

 

A Ruby-throated Hummingbird

just came to my library window

to thank me for the four feeders

I filled and maintained for five months.

"Your presence was my pleasure,"

I say, as I wonder which day

in September will be their last,

before they fly away.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Feeder - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Questions of Flight

 

Don't you admire the strong, confident

rhythm in the wingbeat

of the Great Blue Heron?

How about the up and down,

arching flight of woodpeckers,

undulating between the trees?

Or the linear, straight and fast

destintion-driven style

of most ducks?

You must enjoy trying to track

the swirling, swiveling, darting

ride of the swallows.

And aren't you fascinated by the

skilled precision and acrobatics

of any hummingbird?

Don't you admire bird flight,

and try to imagine what it might

be like to fly? 

Pure delight! 

Right?

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Great Blue Heron ~ Eagle Lakes Park - Naples, Florida

2. Pileated Woodpeckeer ~ Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Ring-necked Duck ~ Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

4. Tree Swallow ~ Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

5. Broad-tailed Hummingbird (female) ~ Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado 

Caves of Nectar

Supple Jewelweed;
these tiny trumpets,
soft and succulent,
lush and luxurious,
droplets of orange,
inviting bees 
and hummingbirds
into small caves of nectar.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Canon Township - Kent County - Michigan

You may also enjoy: Small Blessings - July 13, 2015

Writing on the Deck

"Is it an old man's hunger to take in all he can of what's left of his life?
... to save what I can for them to see through my eyes?" ~ Dan Gerber *

Aging sweet peas arch
from an antique vase;
decorate my writing table,
capture my curious eyes.

The stillness of an empty blue sky
is cradled by the glossy canopy of trees.

A lively little wren hops along the handrail.
A hummingbird hovers over the petunias.
Steeples of Delphinium blue the green shadows.
A Pileated Woodpecker hammers in the woods. 
A cicada cranks up its hypnotic, electric buzz.

Despite the comfort of these morning hours,
the days rush past, seasons change swiftly,
but I am out here; a witness.

Surrounding trees breathe in silence.
Then a soft breeze stirs,
lifting graceful fern fronds.

Like the breath of God
confirming these words,
blessing my time,
giving this day.

Filling my soul 
with gratitude.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

* Excerpt ~ "In Our Rented Cabin" from Dan Gerber's book: Sailing through Cassiopeia © 2012

Photo Locations: 

Home Deck, Home Garden, Home Woods.

While

Would you like to walk with me
along this path of words?

While the Astilbe
thrust their pink towers
from the perennial garden;

while the Pileated Woodpecker
cackles while hidden
deep in the woods;

while the cumulus bulge
white mounds
into the afternoon sky;

while the hummingbird
sips sweet liquid while
hovering on a blur of wings;

while cloud shadows
race across the fields
trying to catch the wind;

while summer quickens,
ripens, and opens
this invitation

to walk,
to watch,
to wonder.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve - Fort Meyers, Florida

2.  Pickerel Lake Park - Fred Meijer Nature Preserve - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Home - Cannonsburg, Michigan

December's Dream

In the morning,
I may go to photograph
the white water lilies
as they display their purity
upon the calm water
of a peaceful pond.

In the afternoon,
I may read some poetry,
or write some poetry
sitting on the deck,
while watching hummingbirds
hovering at the feeders.

In the evening,
I may watch the clouds
diminish with the light
as the ripples on the lake
carry a liquid reflection
for my admiration.

Tonight, 
I may observe
a splinter of moon,
a splatter of stars,
and fireflies pulsing along
the dark edge of the woods.

This warm night in July
is what we dreamed of
last December.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Wabasis Lake - Michigan

2. Home - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

4. Home - Cannonsburg, Michigan

hovering

hummingbird hovers
a quick blur of energy
on emerald wings

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado