Religion in the Waves

The ocean is a religion. Its waves are a constant reminder of the never-ending nature of the world we live in. It's tides teach you that everything comes and goes at it's own pace. It touches all parts of our world at the same time and ties us all together no matter how far away we think we might be from each other. Its always there, making us feel small, while at the same time enlarging us in ways we don't even fathom. Stand on a shore and you can stare off into the Seas depths and on any given day see into your past or your future.
The ocean has always been my religion and no matter how far away I am or how long its been since my last confession, I can always sense it's ebb and flow in my veins and feel its pull on my heart and soul every time there's a full moon in the sky.
Try to stand on a beach while the last rays of summer sun reach out to you from millions of miles away and not feel the awe.
No the Ocean is most definitely a religion and I was born to be it's disciple.
R.Sweat

Poetry/Hollow

Once I looked with eyes that never saw
Only to hear the truths stolen from a broken heart
To touch no one,leaving all in my wake feeling nothing
I Spoke in half truths, in the half light and left always by midnight
Leaving roses with no scent, forgotten beauty that once graced my world
Better to be Anonymous on Earth, Than a Star In Heaven

BRING DOWN THE RAIN

BRING DOWN THE RAIN!!!!
Let the scene grow dark, of a day seen no more
Rolling mountains of indigo clouds, that fill the world above
Each one darker, more foreboding than its brother before
Let the Banshees Howl in this world without love

BRING DOWN THE RAIN!!!
Wash away all that I've known, all that I fear, all I hold, so, so dear
Bring the white hot light flashing from providence to the floor,
Crash through my heart and through the door, rain, rain, is here. For evermore

BRING DOWN THE RAIN!!
Turn back the tides and time, and truth of it all and will the Palmetto trees bow and fall
Thunder away at the shore for all times and send yesterday a gift of tomorrows crimes

BRING DOWN THE RAIN!
Drown my fear, Drown my pain, Drown this world without you

BRING DOWN THE RAIN

Days End

     Sometimes days end before the night has a chance to pull her blanket of stars tight across the sky. The world gives in and sheds its skin and yearns to be reborn. What the daylight cant repair the night time will restore.
     Sometimes the light refuses to give way and we watch in awe as what was once the master of the day, loses its battle, one glorious ray at a time. Retreating                                                         from our sight until all thats left is yesterday and a                                                              promise. 
      Sometimes we are, but most times we are just dreams. 
Good Night Y'all
R. Sweat

Pluff Mud, Rising Tides and Sticky Situations

       My cousins and I grew up on South Rhett Ave. Just a stones throw from Noisette Creek. If we werent playing baseball in the vacant lot between Helm and Orangeburg we we were in or around that creek. One summer around 5 PM we started jumping off the bridge, first in the water then into the pluff mud. When you walk around Tidal creeks you always wear shoes because of the possibility of buried oyster shells. On this day I was wearing my brand new and begged for Keds. I watched as my cousins jumped into the waiting mud and sank thigh deep before barely escaping the vacuumous mud, I wasn't so lucky. When I hit, I sank up to my waist and couldn't budge. No matter what I did Neither I or my cousins could break me free and now I had a bigger problem, the tide was coming in. As the boys ran to get shovels they ran into my father coming home from the shipyard who quickly extracted a confession from them. So now I am sunk up to almost my armpits when just about every man in the neighborhood arrive at the bridge and after a quick appraisal of the situation, they decided the only thing to do was tie a rope around me and pull me out. Seems like a good idea except there was only room for 1 person to stand on the creek edge and nobody had enough strength to pull me out. That's when the car backed up. They tied the other end of the rope to my dads 1957 Hillman Minx and not only pulled me out of the pluff mud but up the creek edge and onto the road.Leaving my Keds for all time buried at the bottom of that hole. My dad was a very calm, easy going person and I guess the rope burns and scrapes were enough of a lesson for him. He never punished me for doing what little boys do, but my mom, that's another story. What she punished me for though was losing that brand new pair of tennis shoes. I often wonder what an archaeologist will make of those shoes when they find them in ten thousand years, buried in a creek bed? Anyway I have always been amazed at people who pay for mud baths, when I would have given anything to get out of that one.

Stepped outside to write something witty and charming and an hour later I find I will have lost that time to the kind of spring day that usually ends up on a canvas or in songs. Maybe it wasn't a loss in time as much as an investment in clarity. 
R. Sweat

Charleston in Bloom

Taken At My Bike Shop

     The Lowcountry has just exploded once again in another breath taking world of color. Dogwoods, Azaleas, Babies Breath, Wisteria have turned the city into an artist's pallet that Monet would have been proud to have had. Set to a canvas of green grass, both on the ground and in the Pluff Mud Salt Marshes that have returned to life after a Winter spent in hiding. All framed by the picture perfect elegance of our beaches and the endless blue hues of the ocean beyond.

      It's like taking a beautiful Southern woman and dressing her head to toe in the most unique of natures head turning floral fashions. Accented by the elegance and grace that her homes so effortlessly exude. Her entourage is composed of the Plantations that were her history and Charlestons gentile                                                     folk that are her future.
I feel sorry for anyone not blessed enough to be here and see Charleston as she steals the show and waltzes her ways down the  southern coastal runway that is Spring In the Carolina's.