Remembering Wine

 

This wine I drink,

that now conforms

to the glass I hold;

does it remember the vines

that held its clusters

of plump, purple grapes?

The broad leaves,

prominently-veined,

that shaded the treasured fruit?

The soil, the sun on the slopes

of Old Mission Peninsula,

of Leelanau Peninsula vineyards,

refreshed by Lake Michigan breezes?

I do.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Deck - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. 3. 4. & 5. Leelanau Peninsula Wine Trail

How It Feels

 

Suffering attracts compassion.

Grief invites kindness.

I've been on both sides.

I know how it feels.

To give.

To receive.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Familiar

 

Wild Blue Phlox

appear here

in late May abundance.

Silent in their growing

in the sun-dappled shade

at the edge of the woods.

Purple, lavender, a few whites.

Common and familiar,

but when hand-picked

with your favorite pruners,

selected and collected,

and arranged in

an antique vase,

their beauty warms the room

and our familiar hearts.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home Woods & Home. 

Many Rooms

 

On this annual occurance

of crocuses and daffodils,

we can congratulate ourselves

on sursviving another

long, West Michigan winter.

Now we patiently wait and watch

as the brown and gray woods

absorb energy from the sun and

transform into a green mansion

where we can walk in many rooms.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. & 2. Home Garden

3. Home Woods

Perfect Grace

 

In the dead center

of the radiating rays

of the Queen Anne's Lace,

a speck of deep purple.

Have you noticed?

Or are you still

trying to overcome

your infatuation

with the perfect grace

of her white face?

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Essence

"You whose essence is hidden while your gifts are manifest." ~ Rumi

Often overwhelmed

by your magnificent creation,

I seek the essence

of your presence in nature.

Amazed by the variety of life forms,

astonished by the miracles of growth,

I am filled with wonder

and blessed to be a witness,

as I try to express my gratitude 

to our Creator.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Balloon Flower - Home Garden - Canonsburg, Michigan

2. Hummingbird Moth on Wild Phlox - Home Garden.

3. San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area - Sierra Vista - Arizona

4. Small Skipper on Vetch - Home Fields

 

Royal Purple

Is there anything in nature 

as delicately soft as the

petals of a wildflower in spring? 

Select your species.

Where I live, I'll choose

the tender hepatica,

humbly growing

close to the soil,

close to the earth,

a royal purple satin

too precious to touch.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

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

Praying

 

When I pray,

I try to quiet my mind

and concentrate

on God's presence.

Then, humbling myself

with deep respect,

I give sincere thanks

for His incredible creation,

and wait patiently

for the Holy Spirit

to stir my soul

with inspiration,

to accept and embrace 

who I am called to be,

seeking guided navigation

from obscurity into purpose,

to be ready

to accept His message

and show gratitude

through my writing.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1.Pickerel Lake Park / Fred Meijer Nature Preserve - Kent County - Michigan

2. Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan

3. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan

4. Home Road - Cannonsburg, Michigan

oh hepatica !

 

oh hepatica

touch my delicate fabric

of purple petals

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. Townsend Park - Kent County - 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

This is Dementia

In loving memory of Lillian Havenga (October 22, 1922 ~ September 2, 2021)

They can't remember where they've been,
a dark road ahead with an uncertain end. 

Now surrounded by shadows of doubt.

Is happiness dimmed by time,
or simply forgotten in the fog of forgetting?

Feeling like a fallen fruit, 
wanting only respect and acceptance.

They have become abandoned buildings;
former great designs now become mysteries.

Are regrets surrendered,
or abandoned?


Preferring comfortable habits,
fearing new experiences.

They are hidden behind the trees,
stuck inside the shadows. 


Trying to accept this new stage of life
with grace and dignity.

Struggling to accept their
dependence on others. 

Waiting at the gate,
but not knowing what for.

Now carrying new burdens
with the uncertainty of an orphan.

Brief fragments of understanding,
like razor-thin ice, are shattered
as they are formed.

Becoming a stranger to yourself. 

The memory becomes shallower,
like ripples upon the shore. 

Drifting in the eddy
between the former self
and the darkness ahead. 

Searching the darkness
with diminishing options,
seeking sameness for easier decisions.

Their memories grow old,
packed with stories often-told;

gathered into lumps of lint

deep in their warm pockets.

Now becoming transparent
inside their lonely days,
time refuses to move.

Thoughts are all tangled,

twisted into turmoil.

Silent as an old photograph
trying to hold on to yesterday.

Their parade of days
diminishing in the distance.

Their thoughts have gone astray.
There is nothing more to say.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Ada, Michigan

2. Sierra Vista, Arizona

3. Kent County - Michigan

4. Fountain, Colorado

5. Buena Vista, Colorado

6. Loveland, Colorado

7. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

8. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan

9. Home Woods - wetland - Kent County, Michigan

10. Lincoln Beach, Oregon

11. Pickerel Lake - Kent County - Michigan

12. Grand Teton National Park - Wyoming

13. Southern California

14. Yellowstone National Park - Wyoming

15. Olympic National Park - Washington

16. 1896 Schoolhouse - Elkhart, Kansas

17. Centennial, Wyoming

18. Lowell, Michigan

Amethyst

 

Purple blossoms of vetch

dangle like living jewels;

like amethyst

on a green necklace.

These delicate gems

adorn summer fields,

use their tender tendrils

to climb and cling to grasses,

seeking better exposure

to the mid-summer sun.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan