At the corner of Sumter and Gervais

Like a little frosting house. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010One of my more cherished haunts (forgive me) in Columbia is Trinity Episcopal Cemetery.
Surrounded by soaring skyscrapers and city bustle, the peace of it is otherworldly.
I go there to walk and breathe and ponder. Sometimes I pray.
The resting place of six South Carolina Governors, this is a true churchyard cemetery. The original cathedral was built in 1812 and was miraculously spared when, on his march to the sea in 1865, General Sherman burned one-third of Columbia to the ground.
Perhaps he was too busy playing with matches across the street at the State House.
At any rate, if you're jazzed (as I am) by live oaks with arms so wide and reaching that their canopies are cabled, tombstones that resemble cakes slathered in buttercream, wrought iron as delicate as it is ubiquitous, and the fascinating juxtaposition of the dead reposing among the living, you'd love this cemetery.
I took over a hundred pictures last Monday as the light was fading. Here are a few of my favorites:
Come on in. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
God is in the details. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
And the ages roll. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
Safe in and night coming on. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
Shadows and lace. Photo Jennifer Weber 2010
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NO PRIDEFUL THING
by D.W.H.
No prideful thing it is that has taken
A world gone under and its breath sucked out,
To lift our eyes toward splendor, to awaken
Our ears again to songs the sparrows shout;
To fall upon our knees and bless the morning,
The air we breathe as flowers breathe the air,
To clasp the wing of Peace, a bright wing burning
Forgotten within our hearts and hold it there.
We were too rich with wine and food and fashion,
Too lustful for the things that matter not,
Too far away from hearthfires, the fierce passion
Of love that saves a nation from its rot.
But since the clock strikes out the hour still,
There yet is time to sow into the sod
The seeds of brotherhood on field and hill,
To turn, through man-made darkness, back to God.
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