This handsome yellow bird,
accented with a black cap,
black wings and tail,
swoops across the summer sky
in shallow arches;
an undulating flight between the trees.
Singing yellow notes
of freedom
into the blue sky.
Until it comes down to earth
to feed on the seeds
of flowers.
American Goldfinch.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 2. Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
3. Roselle Park - Ada Township - Kent County - Michigan
I'm walking in a fallow field
filled with the soft faces
of Queen Anne's Laces.
These flat-topped umbels,
are white daystars
of circling galaxies.
Sweet summer's
gathering of grace.
Growing with dignity
in common green fields.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations: Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan
These four horses' asses
that were grazing on grasses
now ignore the photographer
who's not offended
who likes the contrast
of browns and blacks
against the pale green sage
in the rolling summer hills
above the aspen grove
below the blue-gray clouds
east of the Grand Tetons
in northwest Wyoming.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Gros Ventre Road - Kelly, Wyoming
When we decide to slow down,
to leave the phone at home,
and go outdoors to engage in
intentional listening,
we will be practicing
the concept of yutori.
And we will be rewarded
as we contemplate
our life space,
and express gratitude to God
for our experiences outdoors.
A soft breeze whispering through
the fine needles of White Pine.
Birdsong streaming from
the density of green woods.
The rapids of a mountain stream
rushing over rocks, splashing boulders.
The faint chirp of crickets
on a late summer evening.
Gifts we can give ourselves.
When we decide to listen.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. White Pine - Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan
2. Indigo Bunting - Cannonsburg State Game Area - Kent County - Michigan
3. Taylor River - Gunnison County - Colorado
shadows of grasses
dancing on warm summer dunes
choreography
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Location:
Whitefish Point - Upper Peninsula - Michigan
I'm walking
in the welcome shade of August
along this quiet country road.
Dense clusters
of Common Orange Daylilies
flourish in the heat;
one new bloom each day
on each plant stem.
A late summer orchestra
of orange trumpets flaring
at the top of each stalk.
An abundance of ordinary
at the side of the road,
ready for your investigation,
worthy of your appreciation.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
Home Road - Cannonsburg, Michigan
In the quiet stillness
of this summer morning,
pearls of dew are cradled
in arching blades of grass.
No breath of breeze
will roll them from their nest.
Only the climbing sun
and passing time
will make these
morning jewels disappear.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 2. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan
Tucked under dark green leaves,
laying on their bed of straw,
warm June sunshine
ripens bright red berries.
Sweet, juicy and lucious.
Easy to pick with your fingers.
Delicious to taste with your tongue.
Sweet summer strawberries.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Kent County - Michigan
We walk
through the seasons of our lives.
The snow, the cold, the blizzards.
The rain, the heat, the thunderstorms.
Wildflowers emerge in the spring woods.
Tree buds swell and unfurl new leaves.
Vibrant autumn colors
flare briefly, then die.
Winter sun slides by low in the sky.
Summer sun climbs high.
We live our lives alive,
try to thrive in each season;
remembering.
© 2025 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan
2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
3. Pickerel Lake Park - Kent County - Michigan
4. McCarthy Lake - Kent County - Michigan
5. Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan
With little fanfare,
summer slips into autumn
in each individual leaf
as it turns from green
to yellow, gold, or bronze,
then falls silently to earth
and lies there quietly
with a million others,
until you make one leaf special
by selecting it
and picking it up.
This one in a million,
now pressed in the pages,
within the words
of a poetry book.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Location: Home Library
This massive White Oak
sends its roots
deep into the earth,
probing the heart of gravity.
Its crown spreads wide,
capturing life-giving energy;
the miracle of photosynthesis
performed with the summer sun,
under a transparent sky.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Lowell Township - Kent County - Michigan
The slow summer heat
loitered into mid-September,
so I lingered on the deck
until my written words
were obscured
by the deepening dusk,
and contentment
filled my cup.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
He sat close to the window;
writing, and watching summer mature.
As the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds
zipped and sipped at the feeders and flowers.
And the Sandhill Cranes
yodeled from nearby wetlands.
As the White Water Lilies
floated their purity upon the lake.
And White-tailed Deer raised
another generation of fawns.
As wheat, stretching straight and tall,
ripened green to gold in dense rows.
And fireflies flashed green-yellow lights
in the silky dusk of evening.
As frequent thundershowers
kept the heartland green.
And the window to his world offered
daily scenes of summer theatre.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Home Feeders
2. McCarthy Lake
3. McCarthy Lake
4. Home Fields
5. Home Fields
6. Home Woods
7. Home Fields
Crops are emerging
from the warming soil;
corn and soybeans reaching
into the wide sky,
.jpg)
this rural farmland swept
with long summer light,
because farmers
have been working
their long tractor days
and nights.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Amboy, Illinois
2. West Olive, Michigan
3. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan
Late this morning,
summer sunlight
sifts through the canopy
of these tall Red Oaks.
Flocks of cumulus
assemble overhead;
form clusters
in a sky-blue sky.
Now cloud shadows
crawl across the land
as an increasing breeze
murmurs through the woods.
I think I hear
Vivaldi
playing in the trees:
Allegro!
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
2. Home Sky - Cannonsburg, Michigan
Walking down the fairway
approaching my well-hit ball,
this challenging game of golf
has several benefits for all.
At hole number one it's obvious:
you get to be outdoors;
observing dynamic skies
and all this nature can be yours.
I'm hearing Eastern Bluebirds
fly from tree to tree,
watching them snatch small insects
that I can't even see.
Then a Red-tailed Hawk
sweeps and sails into view,
riding on summer thermals,
another distraction for you.
And down in the wetland,
a group of Canada Geese,
dabbling in shallow water,
paddling and feeding in peace.
And so by the time we begin
our putting at number eighteen,
I've scored a lot more birdies
than my partners from tee to green.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. & 2. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan
3. Pickerel Lake Park - Fred Meijer Nature Preserve - Kent County - Michigan
Our loyal cardinals
brought vibrant color
to a gray and white winter.
And on summer evenings,
they pierce the silence
with sharp, bold whistles.
Filling the air with song.
Filling my ears with music.
Filling my eyes with gratitude.
© 2024 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan
2. & 3. Home Woods
A waxing crescent moon,
appearing yellow in a hazy sky,
is suspended in the
silky, summer evening.
It's time to watch for
the erratic flights of bats,
and the flashing green lights
of early fireflies.
Time to listen to
little Gray Tree Frogs
chuckle and chortle
from their hidden places.
Time to savor the pleasure
of these mellow summer evenings
that you dreamed of
during winter's cold grip.
© 2023 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Home Sky
2. Home Deck
3. Home Woods
