Cry of the Loon

 

Within your comfortable solitude,

the mournful cry of the loon

heard from the opposite shore

serves up a taste of loneliness.

Not the same as solitude,

but still, you think about it.

How it might be

if she dies first.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Tahquamenon Falls State Park - Michigan

2. Rocky Mountain National Park - Colorado

Inside My Solitude

 

Within this soft peace,

I seek contentment

inside my solitude.

I step cautiously between

the Jack-in-the-Pulpits

and Trillium's white purity.

I listen attentively

to the Scarlet Tanager

and the Red-eyed Vireo.

The Holy Spirit enlightens me;

brings inspiration 

to my words.

I glorify the Creator,

and express gratitude

for these precious gifts.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. & 4. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. & 3. Grand River Basin - Lowell, Michigan

Trophy

 

This Cottonwood tree,

its stout branches

feathered with frost,

stands statuesque

in serene solitude,

and solemn silence;

a silver trophy

earned and given 

for your endurance

and perseverance

into late winter.

© 2025 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: 

1. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan

2. St.Patrick Church - Parnell, Michigan

Canyonlands

 

Under the shadow

of the passing raven's wings,

lichen green clumps of sage

are scattered over red soil

in the silent solitude

of the Canyonlands.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Rewards

for John D'amico

You are:

a climber of mountains,
a hiker of deserts,

an explorer of wilderness,

a seeker of solitude.

Bluffs and buttes,
crags and crests,
ridges and ravines,
creeks and canyons
become your dwelling place.

You tread
so quietly the earth,
that God rewards you
with the extraordinary gifts
of His creation.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Glacier National Park - Montana

2. Canyonlands National Park - Utah

3. Picacho Peak - Arizona

4. Tabernash, Colorado

5. Monument Valley - Utah

Echoes of Creation

The next time
you find some
alone time
to be outdoors,

listen to
the deep silence
within your solitude.

You may hear
the echoes of creation
colliding with
the dome of the sky.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: White Sands National Monument - Alamogordo, New Mexico 

Solitude in Black and White

Only the sound of cold wind
interrupts winter's solitude
in this season of black and white,
this season of waiting.

White columns of wet snow
stick to dark tree trunks
straight, strong, and solid enough
to withstand winter's grip.

Count the months to endure
while listening to the sound
of winter's  cold wind
and solitude in black and white.

Wooden pillars
clothed in bark,
sheathed in snow,
standing in stiff solitude.

Listening to winter's bitter words,
my thoughts begin to merge
with this white wind
driving through bare branches.

Accepting winter's power,
its insistence
on taking its turn
at trying our resistance.

Let it begin.

©  2013  Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Home Woods,  Cannonsburg,  (Cannonsburg)  Michgan

2. Seidman Park,  (Seidman)  Kent County,  Michigan (Michigan)