Breathe

 

My hope in writing,

is that the lines

in some of my poems

may breathe with insight.

Inhaling inspiration.

Exhaling satisfaction.

A discernable voice.

A distinctive vision.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

Irreplaceable

 

It usually takes

only a few good words

to get a poem started.

Maybe an old photograph

from the archives of time;

black and white memories.

Photos I can pinpoint

on the map of my mind,

the irreplaceable ones.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Harlem, Montana

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

After She Left

 

Dusk sneaks up on me,

creeps onto these pages

I'm trying to read

from Donald Hall's poetry.

His wife, poet Jane Kenyon, is dying.

Their future together looks dark;

but their love is a bright fire

burning with intensity.

He promises to keep

the remaining embers

glowing forever

in his plaintive heart.

So he wrote letters to her,

and wrote poems about her,

for many years

after she left.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

 

Photo Locations:

1. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

2. Lafayette, Colorado

My Friend the Moon

 

The moon is like a living thing.

I give it much more attention

than the average human being.

It travels across the night sky,

and sometimes lingers in the daylight.

Appearing and disappearing.

Growing and shrinking.

Waxing and waning.

I anticipate her fullness,

rising after the sun has set.

I eagerly seek 

her first new crescent;

a sliver of silver,

and miss her when she's hidden

behind the overcast.

I photograph her in all her moods,

and write poems about her.

My friend the moon.

Worthy of reflection.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Sky - Kent County -  Michigan

2. North Fort Myers, Florida

3. SaddleBrooke, Arizona

4. Crooked Lake - Kent County - Michigan

5. Vero Beach, Florida

6. Home Sky - Kent County - Michigan

7. Bozeman, Montana 

Gift to the Writer

 

Sometimes, my poems

rise softly, subtly,

like the slow approach

of a summer dawn.

Frequently, they fly about

erratically, sporadically,

like Little Brown Bats

darting and diving during dusk.

Occasionally, the words

may illuminate the lines

like early morning light

on jeweled prisms of dew.

Always, know that

I share my offerings

with humble gratitude

that you are here.

Indelibly, the best gift

to the writer

is the presence

of a gracious reader.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Arriving

 

Have you allowed time

to blossom in your memories?

Recalling the precious moments

when you felt alive and real?

Bringing your quiet past

into a shared life of joy.

 

Writing poems can do this.

In the gardens of your mind.

The words are always arriving, 

ready to bloom.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Luton Park - Rockford, Michigan 

(Orange Butterflyweed) 

Hovering Pen

 

Sometimes,

my pen hovers 

above these blue lines

on my yellow pad,

hesitant, and groping.

Waiting for anticipation 

to molt into inspiration.

Awaiting a song lyric

to spark a starting line.

To find by chance,

a ten year old poem

from my old notebooks.

To reinvigorate

my lyrical poetics,

my creative imagery.

To activate my

hovering pen.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Crusader

 

Within each poem,

using my pen

and my camera,

I am leaving evidence

of a life lived outdoors,

as a lover of nature,

an advocate

for the astonishing

miracles of nature.

A crusader for God's creation.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Garden (Scarlet Hibiscus) - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Gracious

 

I pray

that my poems

will express

what I'm trying to say.

And not fly around erratically

like a Painted Lady butterfly,

or like  Little Brown Bats

darting and diving in the dusk.

I would prefer

that my poems

rise softly, subtly,

and surely, like the dawn.

Then illuminate

my readers

like the morning light

on jeweled prisms of dew.

And in the reading

perhaps feel my hand

on your shoulder

offering encouragement.

And know that

I want to share 

my feelings of  gratitude

with you.

For one of the gifts

of the writer,

is the presence

of a gracious reader.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Reluctant Poem

In the beginning,
this poem exhibited some reluctance
to cooperate (as you can see);
or even to ride along with me
at least until the next bridge
where we could have crossed it together
if we had gotten to it
in my pretty red truck.

But I stopped before the bridge,
got out, and began walking downstream
through this fine mountain valley.

Alone.

After I made it around the first bend,
I thought I heard the poem approaching;
sensed it getting closer to my brain,
perhaps changing its attitude.

Then, as I stopped, and looked back upstream,

there it was, indicating a desire to come along.
As it came closer, shyly at first,
I reached out to pat its shoulder. 

It gave me a little nudge.

The poem now became gracious 
in my presence;

and began pointing out a few things I might have missed:

Like the way the stream collected

the big sky and trees,

and returned these reflections for me to reflect on.

Like the sound of the current

that tumbled over and around
huge, smooth boulders.

It even called attention 
to the satisfied sound

of my own breathing,
as I inhaled the essence
of Ponderosa Pines.

I sat down in the pine-needled sunlight
to further absorb this pleasant landscape,

and hopefully become better acquainted

with this poem, and its intentions; 
but as I looked around,

it was gone. Just like that.

And long lines of words 
evaporated into the big sky. 

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. St. Ignace, Michigan

2. Buena Vista, Colorado

3. Bayfield, Colorado

4. Blackfoot River - Missoula, Montana

5. Bear Creek - Townsend Park - Kent County, Michigan

6. Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado

7. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

8. Hamilton, Montana

9. South Dakota  

Some Words

 

Some words,

especially those

jeweled in dew,

dream of becoming song.

Some words,

like passion, and spring,

volunteer

to enter poems

and wait patiently

to blossom.

Some words,

like blue,

have been around

forever;

in the measureless sky.

Sometimes, words,

in their humility,

are content to help

nudge a poem

along the trail,

up the mountain,

where they can see

forever.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Vergennes Township - Kent County - Michigan

3. & 4. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

Released

This poem is no longer mine.
I have released it into the world,
hoping it will find a place
in someone else's mind and heart.

It now belongs
to anyone who wants it.
It's a gift.
It's for you.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

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

Found Poetry 4

Often, when I'm reading prose, (usually creative non-fiction and nature-related essays) I discover during the re-reading, that certain passages sound very much like poems. I know this is nothing remarkable to writers and discerning readers, but it occurs frequently in my reading. This is my fourth example of "Found Poetry"...

"For our soul's health, we need to take -- or make -- these moments of stillness, when we can let the world of nature, and of nature's Creator, speak to us in our interior world."
~ Luci Shaw  

from: Water Lines New and Selected Poems © 2003


Photo Location:

Sierra Vista, Arizona


You may also enjoy:

Found Poetry 3 ~ December 9, 2019

Found Poetry 2 ~ October 3, 2016

Found Poetry ~ May 18, 2015

Years of Seasons

In the silent light
of this new morning,
my words are carried up
through the blue space
between the clouds.

For the time I am here
I am grateful
for all I am given.
Seventy-two years of seasons;
free gifts from God's creation.

Poems and dreams
climbing into the blue.
Traveling with hope
while I am here.

Finally
finding home
after I am
gone.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Colorado National Monument - Grand Junction, Colorado

2. Absaroka Range - Pray, Montana

Poem Trees

Some of his poems
contained trees,
and some of his trees
grew into poems;
accumulating
along the bends
of their branches. 

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

Hearts and Bones

You know how the words
inside the body of a poem
can pulse with rhythm
and resonate with music;

how they frame the 
experience of the poet;
how the words carry
the presence of place
into your mind;
and carry you 
into the mystery?

This is the work of words:

Constructing meaning.
Creating a connection
between writer and reader.

Sharpening your senses.
Igniting your imagination.

Entering your hearts
and your bones.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

You may also enjoy this post about Writing: "Harvest" ~ October 27, 2014



Photo Locations: 

Home Perennial Gardens - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Bleeding Hearts - Lamprocapnos spectabilis