Daystars

 

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

Singing To the Sky

 

You're out here with purpose.

Walking through your own woods,

to witness these spring-loving birds

returning to their home territories,

or just passing through

on their northern migration.

It's just another reason

you love the month of May.

To listen to the songbirds 

and the warblers

singing to each other,

singing to the sky.

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Scarlet Tanager - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Bay-breasted Warbler - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan.

3. Black and White Warbler - Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan.

Solvitur Ambulando

 

When the tensions of your life,

and the troubles of our world

begin to overwhelm your mind

and dominate your thoughts,

stop the mental talk

and take a long, brisk walk.

Solvitur ambulando*

It can be solved while walking.

*St. Augustine

© 2026 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Glacier National Park - Montana

2. Great Sand Dunes National Park - Colorado

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.

Remembering Seasons

 

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

Into the Silence

 

I'm yearning, again,

for a walk in the wild.

Another rigorous hike

on the shoulder

of a mountain.

A place to avoid voices,

escape the noise,

and vanish

into the silence.

© 2024 Richard Havenga

Photo Location:

1. West Elk Wilderness - Colorado

These Words

 

I have carried these words

over trails we've hiked,

lugged them down from

rocky mountains while walking

parallel to mountain streams

that call to me to stay awhile.

I have collected these words

among Ponderosa Pines

thriving in grassy meadows.

I have written these words

with the hope that what I can give

may be something you need,

and be graciously received

when you decide to read.

© 2022 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Glacier National Park - Montana

2. Blackfoot River - Missoula, Montana

3. Hamilton, Montana

Morning Walk

 

This evening in my library,

I think about my morning walk.

Along the curving edge

of this hilly hay field;

windrows drying in the sun;

inhaling the perfect aroma.

Then across our gravel road

to the north shore 

of McCarthy Lake.

I stepped softly to the end

of the old wooden dock,

avoiding little clumps

of dried muskrat dung.

I admire the flexible reeds,

projecting from calm water,

arching into their reflections.

Standing, watching, breathing,

waiting for something to happen.

A sudden slosh

from the edge of the thick cattails.

Too loud, too large to be a fish.

An OTTER !

First one I've seen

in my twenty-three years here.

Showing his teeth,

showing the bullhead

he just captured

from the shallows.

Rising above the surface,

looking back at me,

showing surprise

at my otter surprise.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

2. & 3. McCarthy Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

Directions to My House (in early spring)

 

You know where the creek

meanders through the small woodlot,

and enters the open meadow

where the Eastern Meadowlarks

prefer to sing each spring?

Hang a left there,

and walk through the crop field

that was in corn last fall

and soybeans the year before;

here you will hear the

Sandhill Cranes yodeling

and see them plucking invertebrates

from the saturated soil between the rows.

Then continue westerly along

the north shore of McCarthy Lake

where circles of Cinnamon Ferns

will thrive this summer.

From here you will spot a pair of Mute Swans

circling around the lake's perimeter

searching for open water.

When they land, notice their angelic wings

as the last skim of ice melts away.

Now turn north, uphill, through the field

deep with winter-matted grasses,

and follow the faint deer trail

along the east slope of the woods

until it crosses the gravel road.

You will now be under 

some splendid walnut trees.

Take your time here, 

because you need to step carefully

through the arching canes 

bearing short thorns

where I pick Wild Black Raspberries

in early July.

Take the next deer trail on the west side

of the vernal wetland, where Spring Peepers

have just begun to call

on nights when it's warm enough.

You must now ascend what was once 

our cross-country ski trail

through Red Oaks, Black Oaks,

and a few Shagbark Hickories.

As you step onto the lawn,

notice my favorite tree;

this American Beech, with leaves

that were yellow in October,

copper in December, and now appear

winter-bleached and tissue-thin.

From here, if you look northwest,

you will see me in my library

writing directions for another season.

You don't need to knock,

or even ring the doorbell.

I've been expecting you.

Please come in.

We'll talk about 

your walk.

© 2021 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations:

1. 2. 8. 9. & 10. Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

3. Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

4. & 5. McCarthy Lake - Grattan Township - Kent County - Michigan

6. & 7. Townsend Park - Kent County - Michigan

11. Home Library

enter

beech leaves in the fog

good time for a winter walk

enter and follow

© 2018 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Grattan Township - Kent County, Michigan 

full of grace

I walk
through flat galaxies
of small-petaled stars

full of grace
and soft light;

little prayer circles
filling summer fields.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Location: Home Fields - Cannonsburg, Michigan

receptacle

I long for you

to appreciate with me
the spring chorus
of returning songbirds;
to hear their holy notes
of praise
rising from the woods,
entering your soul.

I long to share
insights gathered
from quiet walks
in summer fields
where familiar wildflowers
expand to dispense
their sweet fragrance
for your pleasure.

I long to be
the receptacle
for words
gleaned from leaves
resisting wind and gravity,
displaying flexibility,
while growing imperceptibly,
through time, precious time.

I wish to enter
through the transparent
window of your heart;
to bring samples
of God's creation
into your waiting world
as we await
the blessed hope.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Info. & Locations:

1. Red-eyed Vireo ~ Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

2. Scarlet Tanager ~ Fred Meijer White Pine Trail State Park - Rockford, Michigan

3. Purple Coneflower ~ Grand Detour, Illinois

4. Cattail ~ Wabasis Lake Park - Kent County, Michigan

5. Morning sun through fog ~Home Woods - Cannonsburg, Michigan

May You Walk IV

May you walk...

Around early winter ponds not yet frozen, 
but accented in black and white.

On overcast days, under shades of gray,
dense with stratus.

On cross-country skis, along wooded trails,
deep with fresh powder.

On cold mornings among crystals clinging to arching grasses, 
sparkling with frost.

Over round, white hills, rolling to the horizon,
smoothed with deep blankets of snow.

On winter lakes, sealed over with twelve inches of ice, 
and ten inches of snow.

May you walk through the seasons of your life attentive and alert, 
with a joyful sense of gratitude.

© 2016 Richard Havenga

Photo Locations: Kent County, Michigan

You may also like:

May You Walk ~ February 7, 2014

May You Walk II ~ January 12, 2015

May You Walk III ~ July 20, 2015