Alive

 

These poems I write

don't just exist in the mist.

They're not merely collections

of reflections orbiting on the internet.

They are alive, and speak

with a voice you can hear.

Contain a robust curiosity.

An investment in creativity.

A place you can enter

again and again.

Meet in particular places.

Like friends coming together.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. 3. McCarthy Lake - 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