Just south of Charleston, SC there is an abandoned lighthouse where the island has eroded over time, leaving the lighthouse stranded out in the currents. It is both haunting and beautiful. It is the Morris Island lighthouse.
Morris Island
The land has washed away.
Up and down the coast
this thumb of island,
sand from other shores,
stones from mountains,
silt from the river basin –
all pulled by tides –
trace the paths of the sea
down to the cracks
in the floor of the earth.All that remain are the dark eyes
of this lighthouse,
wind, waves, strong currents,
the pull of the moon,
and the push of the river
that is always flowing.# # # # #
Revised: Sept 2005 – Ben Gatrelle
Previously published in “The Water Log” December 1995
Previously published in “Shako – Literary Magazine of The Citadel” – May 1996
Previously published in “Holy City Chronicle” – June 2002