My words do not
crash from the clouds
and rumble like thunder
echoing in the atmosphere.
like the sound of petals
curling open to reveal
the essence of the flower.
Like the soundless rise
of the morning sun
birthing a new day
with the soft music of poetry.
Silent treasures
brought into the light of today.
Carrying the quiet hope
of one more tomorrow.
© 2026 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. 2. 3. Balloon Flower -Home Garden - Cannonsburg, Michigan
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
First, the fields and forests
are tormented
by the wind.
Then cumulus bottoms
darken and
threaten.
Lightning stabs and startles.
Thunder growls and rumbles.
Large drops of rain
splatter the soil,
churn the surface
of the lake.
The song of the rain
commands your attention.
Saturates your senses.
Demands to be heard.
© 2022 Richard Havenga
Photo Locations:
1. Flathead Lake - Montana
2. Pickerel Lake - Kent County - Michigan
