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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The Bright Road

This is the bright road to the mountain top
Beset with shadows and with paths astray,
By dangerous crag, by cliff's sudden drop
Into eternity. This is the way
That man might climb upon the verdant sod
And find among the peaks the peace of God.

On this long road man needs an iron-bound will,
A purpose clear that strengthens every hour,
A hand to help the weak o'er steepening hill
And heart to cheer the sad through darkening shower.
This is the bright road youth must climb with care
To gain the top and its good blessings share.

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

Photo by Dan Hardison
Cades Cove, East Tennessee

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