Arranging, Rearranging

 

I always look up

when I hear the geese

approaching, nearer and nearer.

Here they come, arranging

and rearranging themselves

into intentional V's.

I must count them;

can't help myself,

while I listen to the directions

they're calling to each other. 

To glean from the 

newly-harvested cornfield,

or glide down onto McCarthy Lake;

a splashing, clashing, clamor of sound,

then returning to quiet.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Home Sky - Cannonsburg, Michigan 

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

4. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

Place

 

I have so much space

out here in the quiet country.

Over ten acres of our own woods

to walk, to explore, to learn.

Sometimes during my walks,

I just stop and contemplate

the blessings of this experience.

Each season provides a reason

to get outside and love this place.

I'm learning to listen better.

Not just to our loyal birds,

that I truly love,

but also listening to the quiet.

A privileged pleasure

that I always treasure.

I promise to take care of this space

and to share what I learn with grace,

until I can no longer roam,

and I'm brought back home;

returned to my starting place.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. & 7. All photographed in our Home Woods.

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) 

Until

 

The farther up this trail I go,

the fewer people I see,

until I'm in the company of quiet.

Until I reach this rushing stream

and sit on a boulder to listen

to the talking waters.

Studying the current

rolling over rocks,

bending around boulders.

Silver veins of water

tumbling in turmoil,

falling freely with grace.

Until these words

 flow into lines

of liquid poetry.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Yellowstone National Park

Sounds Like Praise

 

As dawn expanded into morning,

I watched this piece of earth

fill with radiant light.

A breeze stirred the leaves,

and colors awakened

in summer wildflowers.

Listening to the quiet start

of this brand new day,

birdsong sounds like praise.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 2. Glacier National Park - Montana

3. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

Voice of the Desert

 

The air and the light

create serenity.

A quiet calm permeates

the atmosphere.

The voice of the desert

speaks with a dry whisper.

I listen attentively,

ready for illumination.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Florence, Arizona

2. Picacho Peak State Park - Arizona 

white satin

 a pair of Mute Swans

ornament the icy lake

wings of white satin

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Reeds Lake - East Grand Rapids, Michigan

You may also enjoy swans from another season: 

"Autumn Watercolor" ~ Oct. 24, 2012

Bronzed

 

Penetrating rays of sun

have bronzed the early fog.

And bronzed the soybeans

nearing harvest time.

I'm embraced by the quiet

of a cool October morning.

A perfect place to pray

prayers of thanks to begin the day.

Until two crows break the silence

with their own invocation.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

2. Lowell Township - Kent County - Michigan

Whispered Words

 

Walking slowly, stopping often,

under the green canopy

of these familiar woods.

I'm listening to the quiet.

Waiting for inspiration.

Absorbing secrets from the land.

Then a subtle breeze

begins to whisper words

I try to understand.

© 2023 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Woods - Cannonsburg, 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

Listen to the Quiet

 

When you reach the heart of the desert,

under the vast dome of blue sky,

and walk into the deep silence,

will you then feel the presence

of our Creator God?

Will you stand among the tall Saguaro

and feel small next to their height?

Will you be astonished

at the diversity of cactus species,

and how they survive in this arid land?

 

Can you abide the pure stillness?

Find comfort in tranquility?

Listen to the quiet?

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. 4. Catalina State Park - Tucson, Arizona

3. Saguaro National Park - Tucson, Arizona

Looking Out

 We have no curtains, no blinds

on our windows to block the view.

We are 700 feet from a gravel road

that is seldom travelled.

When the leaves are on the trees,

we cannot see the road.

From the road,

our house cannot be seen.

We are surrounded by woods;

with tall Red Oaks, some Hickory,

Black Cherry, a few Sugar Maples,

and an occasional American Beech.

I spend a lot of time

looking out our windows,

stepping out on the front porch,

and sitting on the back deck.

I value private.

I cherish quiet.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Home - Cannonsburg, Michigan

At the Edge

As the smooth silk of dusk
approaches the edge of night,

music within the soft breeze
tapers into a quiet calm.

A time for contemplation
at the hard edge of old age.

© 2020 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Moran, Wyoming

2. Moran, Wyoming

3. Santa Catalina Mountains ~ Arizona

Finding Poetry

He saw poetry
in the wildflowers.

Heard poetry
in birdsong.

 Touched poetry
in mountain streams.

Tasted poetry
in wild black raspberries.

Felt poetry
in the wind.

Discovered poetry
in every season.

Found poetry
throughout creation.

Wrote poetry
in the evening's quiet.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Tucson, Arizona

2. Home Woods, Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Phainopepla - Oro Valley, Arizona

4. Arkansas River - Buena Vista, Colorado

5. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

6. Ludington, Michigan 

7. Sutton's Bay, Michigan

8. Canyon de Chelly National Monument - Arizona

Woven

While walking
within the quiet,
I was gifted
with the golden threads
of a Canyon Wren's call
woven into the air
between canyon walls.

Just that one long song.
Then I was embraced
by silence
again.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Listen to the Canyon Wren call from Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Photo Locations:

1. Bryce Canyon National Park - Utah 

2. Garden of the Gods - Colorado Springs, Colorado

Slowly Falling Snow

As the falling snow 
quiets the day,
and softens 
the edges of this life,

I sit in my chair,
watching the winter
passing slowly,
watching the snow
falling slowly,
watching my life
passing briskly.

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Tuxedo Creek - Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

Slender Lemon

American Goldfinch:
a summer male,
a slender lemon,

sliding through slopes of air
in undulating arches
toward the settling sun.

Singing while flying,
calling attention
to his passing.

After his passing,
the evening quiet
settles back into place.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Play the call of the American Goldfinch @ Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Photo Locations:

1. White Pine Trail State Park - Rockford, Michigan

2. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan