Deep Peace

Deep peace of the running wave to you
Deep peace of the flowing air to you
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you
Deep peace of the shining stars to you
Deep peace of the gentle night to you
Moon and stars pour their healing light on you
Deep peace of Christ the light of the world to you

— A Gaelic Blessing

Photo by Dan Hardison
Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

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The Day Awakens

Haiku and image by Dan Hardison
Photo: Cookeville, Tennessee


Haiga appeared at World Haiku Association, October 2009

To the Night

Evening has passed
and night is upon us –
sleep is near.

A time to put the day behind us –
the stress, the worries,
the problems, the fears.

A time to welcome sweet slumber.
A time of peace, of dreams.

So to the night we go
and through the night we journey
until the morning comes
and brings a new beginning.

— Dan Hardison

Photo by Dan Hardison
Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina

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Graveyard

Nothing has moved in this town.
Nothing at all. Only the soundless dark
And the wonder of night that came like the wind
Unseen have wandered down these final streets.
Only the silent have come upon this mark.

There is no town so quiet on any earth,
Nor any house so dark upon the mind.
Only the night is here, and the dead
Under the hard blind eyes of hill and tree.
Here lives sleep. Here the dead are free.

— James Still
From his book "From the Mountain, From the Valley: New and Collected Poems".

Photo by Dan Hardison
St. John's Episcopal Church - Maury County Tennessee

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