Entering the Painting: "The Vineyards at Cagnes"

 

Leaning against an olive tree,

the lady sits contentedly

in her own private world.

Red blouse, blue skirt,

the wide brim of her hat

shielding the sun.

Apparently reading a book,

entering the story,

absorbing the narrative

in her delicate head.

Invisible to the reading lady,

I enter the painting.

Leaning on the other olive tree,

sitting in the summer shade,

wearing my ordinary clothes.

I observe the landscape,

and begin to write about

my pastoral impressions

and her captivating presence.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

"The Vinyard at Cagnes" ~ Pierre-Auguste Renoir 1908

Photo Location: Vero Beach Museum of Art - Vero Beach, Florida

Water into Water

 

Rain is progressing

up the Grand River valley;

softening the rich soil,

placing a sheen on the 

Silver Maple leaves,

dimpling the river's surface.

I watch the river

accept the rain;

water into water,

meandering 

through the landscape

on its silent course.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Grand River - Plainfield Township - Kent County - Michigan

Empty Hands

 

If you go outside often,

you could be blessed; 

enclosed by the golden glow

and vibrant colors

of an October afternoon.

You could find a quiet place

to sit still, with empty hands

and wide open senses,

and allow the peace

of the present landscape

to enter your busy brain

and your hungry heart.

And after you inhale the silence,

and sense the serenity,

you will feel renewed;

knowing what is true,

and eager to carry it with you

inside your satisfied soul.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. & 3. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

Still 3

 

I am still listening

to wind and rivers

as they each speak

in their unique

languages.

I am still watching the clouds

as they beautify the sky,

and the rain, as it moistens

the thirsty

land.

I am still aging,

but growing in patience,

accepting the reasons for seasons

and the passage of

time.

I am still living a life

of profound attention.

Working to reveal the blessings

that surround me.

Writing, to share the miracles

in nature.

Waiting for more inspiration

to come.

Watching the long light of evening

spreading across the landscape,

and these words

spreading across long lines of the page.

Enjoying this small segment of time,

still wanting just a little more. 

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Snake River - Swan Valley, Idaho

2. Home Sky - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Alamosa, Colorado

4. Ada Dam - Ada, Michigan

Merging Seasons

 

Outside this morning,

it is so quiet,

it seems like the landscape

is contemplating itself.

A meaningful meditation

on the merging of seasons.

Greens merge into yellows

on a Crooked Lake peninsula.

Summer is surrendering

to the artistry of autumn.

Asters of deep purple

guide the gradual change.

A cold air mass waits to slide south

from the Upper Peninsula.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

Home Fields - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

The Fog Lifts

 

As the fog lifts, the landscape 

regains its personality,

restores its character.

Your attitude,

your outlook, goes from

contemplative to pragmatic.

The light,

from monochrome

to Kodachrome®.

The time,

from past

to present.

Then the wind increases,

trying to blow 

these words away.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 3. Sierra Vista, Arizona

2. Grand River - Kent County - Michigan

3. Logan, New Mexico

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

Eyes of the Heart

Like ribbons of silk
weaving the landscape,
rivers and streams
attract my attention,
captivate my senses.

The pure, natural sound
from this mountain stream
draws me close enough
to hear the clear voices
of angels singing. 

I approach the threshold
of the great mystery;
seeing with eyes
of the enlightened heart,
absorbing His grace into my soul.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

2. Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado

3. Taylor River - Gunnison National Forest - Colorado

Into Tomorrow

Allow your eyes
to celebrate with
the land you live in.

Follow the arc of the sun,
the curve of the seasons,
the slow path of patient stars,
the grasses and trees 
dancing with the wind.

Be present
as time unfolds.

Carry with you
into tomorrow,
all that today offers.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Centennial, Wyoming 

2. Longmont, Colorado 

3. Dayton , Wyoming 

Something to Keep ~ Something to Give Away

I'm watching the wind
instruct an infinity of leaves.
Seeing the water move
as the wind teaches it.
Observing the sunlight
dancing with silver clouds.

Please come along with me,
so I may help you hold
these moments in time.
Preserving for you
the power of a poem
which you can share,
and return to again,
and again.

Begun in self-expression
as an extension of my aging self,
now offered with humility:

this new invitation
to recognize the evidence
of the Spirit within you.

Igniting your curiosity
and desire to witness
the natural world,
and to enter this 
meeting ground
between writer and reader.

Walking through and living in
this holy realm of creation.
Meditating within 
this lyrical landscape.
Offering you something to keep,
something to give away.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy: Wind Song ~ June 8, 2016

Photo Location:

1. Council Bluffs, Iowa 

Fragments of Poetry 19

"... the grass.

it anchors sand in place,
then names itself,
signing landscape

by bending in a gentle curve,
swaying half-circles, penning
a transitory letter..." 


from the poem: "Meditation On Creation" by Anne-Marie Oomen 
in:  Seasons of the Sleeping Bear  p.22



Photo Location: Whitefish Point Bird Observatory - Lake Superior - Paradise, Michigan 


You may also enjoy previous "Fragments"...

Fragments of Poetry 16 - September 29, 2016

Fragments of Poetry 15 - February 8, 2016

Deep Listening

When I finally find
the pulse of a poem,
I hope that you, too,
become a willing participant;
reading from your awakened heart
these words
uncovered in the landscape,
recovered from the water,
discovered on the wind --

not merely by hearing words, 
but with slow, deep listening.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1.  Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area - Wyoming 

2. Hyser Lake - Kent County - Michigan 

3. Sunset Beach, North Carolina 

May You Walk II

May you walk...

Under thunderheads rising high after sunset.

Into valleys streaked with earth's bold colors.

Among arching grasses frosted in winter sun.

Over rolling hills peppered with pines.

May you walk through the seasons 
of your life attentive, and alert,
with a joyful sense of gratitude.

© 2015 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy: May You Walk - February 7, 2014

Photo Locations:

1. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County, Michigan

2. Dinosaur National Monument - Vernal, Utah 

3. McCarthy Lake - Kent County, Michigan

4. Theodore Roosevelt National Park - South Dakota

The Poetic Landscape

"I know that seeing deeply is a state of mind and soul that develops, and when I see in a landscape that which mirrors my thoughts, I know I am beginning to find my poetry."





Excerpt from: The Poetic Landscape by Elizabeth Mowry - Artist & Author  (Mowry)  © 2001 



Photo Location:

Grand Teton National Park,  (Teton) Wyoming (Wyoming)

You

Do you love this world 
you were born into?

Have you noticed the gifts
strewn across the land?

Hidden from most,

discovered by you.

Others oblivious,
indelible for you.

In addition to
your awareness and reverence,

you have a touch of 
poetry in your soul,

and an intense love of the land 

in your heart.

©  2014  Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Theodore Roosevelt National Park,  North Dakota  (North Dakota)
  

2. Galatin Range, Livingston,  Montana (Montana)          

A Hike We Like - Arches

The views here are too spectacular for mere words.
You need to travel to southern Utah and visit Arches.
Walk slowly, be aware, and try to absorb the immense spirit of this landscape.





Click on any photo to enlarge.

Photo Location:

Arches National Park,  (Arches)  Utah  (Utah)

"scapes"

"... a view is something our minds make of a place, it is a physical frame around natural fact, a two-way transmission during which the land shapes our eyes and our eyes cut the land into scapes."  

- Gretel Ehrlich











excerpt from:  Islands, The Universe, Home   ©  1991   (Ehrlich)






(Click on photo to enlarge)

Photo Location:  West Elk Wilderness,  (West Elk)  Colorado  (Colorado)