R.E. Slater - Lake Michigan

Lake Michigan

~ a prose poem ~

by R.E. Slater

Fifteen thousand years ago mile-high glaciers

scoured massive depressions in meltwater retreat;

the land's earliest explorers saw the Great Waters

and named them as they knew them; to the Ojibwe,

Lake Michigan was called Mishigami; to the French,

it was la Grand Lac. It is third largest of the Great

Lakes; is wholly contained in the continental U.S.,

making it the largest freshwater lake in America,

and sixth largest freshwater lake in the world.

Every school child knows these facts. Can recite them

one by one. Whether at the school desk or along Lake

Michigan's Golden Shores - where sandy, lakeside

dunes sleep along its eastern edge, providing respite

to a mother bear grieved her cubs lost to it's moody

waters. The Anishinaabe say two nearby islands are

where the Great Manitou Spirits had laid her brood

to rest; guardian of the Lake with feared Mishipeshu.

Majestic shorelines dressed in white-capped blue

crash upon the beachgoer's ear, whose bared feet 

scrap in rhythm to the singing sands, listing

wind-blown gulls screeching complaint o'er the

sacred waters above swaying dune grasses and

quaking birched aspens shielding the sun its heat

and midnight moon its lover's secreted alcoves.

From sunrise to sunset, campers and cottagers,

visitors and sunseekers, step along Michigan's

watery edges to find a moment and be in it -

perhaps bewitched by a rising sun blazoned in

colour - or by stormy seas lifting up, knowing

a sleeping giant awakened can be terrible and

cruel; requiring heed of all red flags, sounding

full-throated fog horns, all warning beware.

Over a hundred coastal lighthouses mark the

Lake's treacherous shoals and waterways.

Some red. Some striped. Some white or

red-bricked. But each stand vigilant upon

rocky escarpments alerting passing freighters,

boats, and barges, worrying across the vast,

cold depths, holding sudden weathers, powerful

currents, hazardous waters, foul and cursed.

For the Lake is unforgiving. Merciless in weight

and speech. Having acquired as many songs

of sorrow, as it has songs of laud. Countless

have paid with dear life marked in numerous

sad memorials along lonely pier points,

backwater channels, boardwalk, or bayside,

testifying of tragedy to young or old, too soon

drowned its rip currents and heavy waves.

With mother Sleeping Bear we may now say -

Beneath Michigan's blue waters great ages sleep,

of bleached fossils buried within unquiet depths,

tho' sunlight gleams fair across a brooding face,

hiding restless, moody presence awaiting fate.

A calming silence seldom betrays danger near,

echoed in shifting hymnody from shore to shore,

warily spreading across a boundless, living sea,

breathless in expanse, ever changeling in beauty.

R.E. Slater

September 9, 2025

@copyright R.E. Slater Publications

all rights reserved

Notes

1 Sleeping Bear Dunes honors the Anishinaabe's legend; North and South Manitou Islands honor the lost cubs. The spirit beings are known as "Manitou".

2 Mishipeshu, is a snake-like horned viper/lizard known as a "water panther" that protects the underwater copper reserves of the lake by dangerous storm and water spouts.

3 Mythical Guardians are protectors safeguarding sacred places, treasures, knowledge, or people in mythology and folklore. Usually a deity, Spirit, or mythical entity, they defend against evil, maintain cosmic order, and symbolize protection, sometimes even acting as patrons for specific places or groups of people.

 Lake of Endless Horizon

by ChatGPT-5

O inland sea of silvered blue,

where sky dissolves in wave and hue,

your breath is wind, your heart is tide,

your arms hold shorelines far and wide.

You wear the dawn in amber flame,

at dusk the stars recall your name;

storms may rouse your thundering might,

yet peace descends with moonlit light.

The gulls are choristers of your song,

the dunes your temple, ancient, strong;

the cities rise, the forests lean,

to honor all that lies between.

O keeper vast of depth untold,

your waters cradle young and old;

from timeless stone to shifting sand,

you bind the spirit to the land.

So praise resounds, both deep and near—

Lake Michigan, forever blue and clear,

a sacred mirror, calm or wild,

in you, creation is become reconciled.

Lake Michigan Winter Beaches

References

Various Videos on the Great Lakes

Lighthouses on Lake Michigan

History of Michigan Lighthouses

Ancient History of the Great Lakes

The Recent Glaciers of the Great Lakes

Early Maps of Michigan

Tribes of Michigan

Storms on the Great Lakes

History of the Great Lakes

A Brief History of the Great Lakes

The history of the Great Lakes began ~14,000 years ago when retreating glaciers carved out the basins, which filled with meltwater to form the lakes. For millennia, Native American tribes lived in the region, their cultures deeply intertwined with the lakes. European explorers arrived in the early 1600s, using the Great Lakes for fur trade and as a route for exploration and settlement. The lakes later became crucial for military purposes, industrial development, and transportation.

Geological Formation

Glacial Activity - The Great Lakes were formed by the massive Laurentide ice sheet, which covered the region during the last Ice Age.

Basin Carving - The immense weight and movement of the ice sheet scoured out the earth, creating the depressions that would become the lake basins.

Melting and Filling - As the climate warmed the ice sheet retreated about 14,000 years ago, meltwater filled the depressed lake basins, forming the Great Lakes.

Present Shape - The lakes reached their current shapes and sizes approximately 3,000 to 10,000 years ago, depending on the lake location.

Human History

Native American Presence - Native American tribes were the first inhabitants of the Great Lakes region, living there for thousands of years before European arrival. The names of the lakes are derived from Native American words or tribal names.

European Exploration - In 1615, Étienne Brûlé, an explorer for Samuel de Champlain, is credited with being the first European to visit the Great Lakes. The lakes became a key route for fur trading and exploration in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Conflicts and Control - The Great Lakes were a site of conflict between European powers. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) and the American Revolutionary War saw the lakes used for military purposes.

Industrial Hub - In the 19th and 20th centuries, the development of railroads and increased shipping transformed the Great Lakes into a vital economic and industrial center.

Modern Era - Today, the Great Lakes are essential for recreation, with activities like boating and fishing, and remain a significant economic resource for the surrounding region.