Impressions

 

Way up here,

in northeast New England,

I climb the granite slope

that slides into the Atlantic.

Kelp clings to wet boulders

at low tide.

At the top of the ridge,

pines and spruce anchor in the sparse soil.

A thin fog creates

a satin veil over the water.

Small islands, mounded and forested,

rise from the quiet bay.

First impressions

are lasting impressions

from my first visit to

Acadia National Park.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

Acadia National Park - Bar Harbor, Maine

Kelp

 

This golden kelp

is jeweled and tooled

by the tide.

Beads and bulbs

swelling along

rubbery ropes.

Slippery ribbons rising,

inflated blades wavering,

waving leathery hands

in deep seawater,

then washed and sloshed

upon the sandy shore.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Monterey Bay - California

Stranded

 

Curled into coils upon coarse sand
flexible tubes tubing
bulging bladders ballooning
swirling into a mosaic
in the family of browns.

Yanked from the sea floor
by waves of turbulence
saltwater detritus
cast off by the Pacific Ocean
washed up during high tide.

 

Leaves flat, flared and rubbery.
The longer I study it,
the more I discover it
is so much more than
what a Midwesterner
would call seaweed.

          Stranded
          on the sand.
                                          Noticed 
                                          by no one.
                                                                      Noticed
                                                                      by one.







Photo Location:

Pacific Grove,  (Pacific Grove)  California