Tractor Days

Crops are emerging

from the warming soil;

corn and soybeans reaching

into the wide sky,

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

 

During Daylight

Driving through the dark,
passing through these prairies,
I try to perceive the vastness;
imagine what I'm missing
beyond this tunnel of headlights.

During the daylight,
paralleling the Platte River
through Nebraska,
broad, bold cottonwoods
tower above the flat land.

During the daylight,
Meadowlarks 
perch on posts;
cast their liquid songs
into the dome of sky.

During the daylight,
crops of corn
germinate, generate
work and income
for men in tractors.

During the daylight,
rusted blades of
deserted windmills
are fixed in position,
stranded in time.

© 2019 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Hershey, Nebraska

2. Hesperus, Colorado

3. Harmon, Illinois

4.  Hugoton, Kansas

Riding the Clouds

I'm running the trails in these forgotten fields.
Cloud shadows hurry over undulating hills.
I race with mesmerizing waves of light.
Pretend I'm riding the clouds. 
The light always wins.
I keep playing.

© 2017 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

Deer Creek Trail Head - Gallatin National Forest - Pray, Montana 

tractor pull

geese form a union

tractor pull in Michigan

it could happen here

© 2015 Richard Havenga