Poem for Redbird

    Poem for Redbird

    I always think that the best way
    to know God is to love many things.
    — Vincent Van Gogh

    In spring and summer
    I barely noticed you
    among the flower blooms.

    When autumn came
    you blended in with the
    brightly colored leaves.

    But in winter
    with bare branches
    and snow covered ground

    you were still there
    bringing beauty and comfort
    like a lullaby in the night.

    There are those who believe
    that you have been sent
    by loved ones now departed.

    But this I know
    there is a word you represent
    and that word is love.

    — Dan Hardison

While I Wasn't Looking

    While I Wasn't Looking

    It has been several days
    since I passed this way
    and gazed upon the maple tree.
    Now as I approach
    with a chill in the air
    I see things have changed.
    The leaves of scarlet and gold
    have taken flight
    and lie on the ground.
    While I wasn't looking
    the seasons changed
    and now it is a winter tree.

    — Dan Hardison


The Wise Owl
December 2025

Two of Us

    Two of Us

     for Pixie

    The dog is in the yard
    and wanders around sniffing
    then stops and looks around.

    Now she appears confused,
    I stepped back inside the house
    and she cannot find me.

    Her hearing is almost gone
    and her eyesight is failing,
    age is taking its toll.

    She takes a few steps, stops,
    the head turning side to side
    then moving again, searching.

    I move towards her now
    and when close, she sees me,
    then starts walking towards me.

    I can imagine a sigh of relief
    as she follows me to the house
    safe again by my side.

    Her unflinching eyes look at me
    as if I am all the world to her,
    but she is everything to me.

    Yet I know the day will come
    when I will have to walk
    with loneliness by my side.

— Dan Hardison


The Wise Owl
September Edition 2025

On a Summer Day

    On a Summer Day

    Down at the river
    where the water is calm
    kids have gathered
        playing and laughing.

    On the bank of the river
    in a lowly puddle
    birds have gathered
        splashing and singing.

— Dan Hardison


The Ravens Perch
October 2024

Walking in Trust

    Walking in Trust

    Vincent Van Gogh:
    The Painter on the Road to Tarascon

    A sun-lit summer day captured
    in colors and brush strokes
    we now know so well.

    The solitary figure
    walking down a road
    carrying paint box and canvas.

    Yet there is an emptiness
    a wanting to be accepted
    for all you have to give.

    The long shadow beneath you
    like a deeper darkness
    warning of things to come.

    And now your painting,
    as with your passing,
    is wrapped in mystery.

    Like a star in the night sky
    that fades with the light of day
    lost to time.

— Dan Hardison


Calliope
Winter Edition 2024

    Vincent van Gogh
    The Painter on the Road to Tarascon
    oil on canvas, 1888
    (Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg, Germany)

The only self-portrait that shows Vincent van Gogh’s entire body instead of only his head and torso, it was painted during his stay in Arles, France, about two years before his death. The painting was purchased by the Kaiser Friedrich Museum in Magdeburg, Germany in 1919 and a color photograph of the painting taken in the 1930s. During World War II, the painting was taken out of the museum’s storage and moved to a nearby salt mine to protect it. But the mine burst into flames when American troops entered on April 12, 1945. The cause of the fire was never known.

The Painter on the Road to Tarascon is believed to have been lost during the fire, but there are those who believe the painting may have been looted before the fire and still exists somewhere. The painting is one of only six Van Gogh paintings thought to have been lost or destroyed. The fate of the painting may remain a mystery, but we are fortunate to have the color photograph.

Adoring

    Adoring

    ― After Mary Oliver

    While out for a walk
    my dog likes to stop
    and smell the flowers.

    Oh I know dogs
    like to smell
    for other dogs.

    But she likes
    to have her wet nose
    touching the blooms.

    Like a bee
    moving from blossom
    to blossom.

    I have to wonder
    if she loves the flowers
    as much as I do.

— Dan Hardison

Lady Moon

    Lady Moon

    As curtains are drawn on the day
    and nighttime descends all about,
    she graces us with her presence.

    A bit shy at first, she is hardly noticed,
    but in time she makes herself known,
    boldly coming forth for all to see.

    Through the night she watches over us
    casting her light with faint shadows
    until morning comes
        to usher her off to rest.

— Dan Hardison


The Ravens Perch
October 2024

Longing

    Longing

    dormant
    skeletal trees
    and sleeping roots and bulbs
    all awaiting resurrection
    in spring

— Dan Hardison


The Wise Owl
Daily Verse 2023

Yesterdays

    Yesterdays

    for CC

    The moment you appeared
    mouthy and sassy,
    full of feline eccentrics,
    you had won us over.

    You never gave any thought
    of adapting to our way of life –
    it is we who adapted
    to your ways.

    Now when arriving home,
    I still expect to see you
    sitting in the window waiting
    with an air of indifference.

    Little things that meant so much
    gone now never to be again.

— Dan Hardison


The Ravens Perch
October 2024

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

    Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow

    We think back on days past
      and still remember
        the less pleasant ones.

    We might wish we could go back
      and change the past
        to hand-picked yesterdays.

    But if we changed the past
      moments we cherish today
        might be lost.

    Better to choose our memories
      and live for a better
        tomorrow.

— Dan Hardison


The Wise Owl
September 2024

The Year Ending

    The Year Ending

    Sorting through accumulated things,
    and placing them in a box:
    a journal,
    photographs,
    notes on scraps of paper,
    a scribbled-on calendar,
    greeting cards,
    colorful sea shells,
    a leaf between folded paper.
    Bits and pieces gathered
    along the journey of the year ending.

    Although we welcome the new year
    there is a touch of longing
    for the time that has passed.

— Dan Hardison


The Ravens Perch
October 2024