The Laurentian Great Lakes (more popularly known as the Great Lakes) were formed around 14, 000 years ago at the end of the last glacial period. Retreating ice sheets carved downreaching basins into the land and eventually they filled with meltwater. These interconnected lakes adjoin the Atlantic Ocean through the Saint Lawrence River.
The lakes named Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie, and Ontario form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth. They contain 21 percent of the world’s surface fresh water by volume. Because of their sea-like characteristics which consist of rolling waves, sustained winds, fierce currents, great depths, and distant horizons, the Great Lakes have also been called inland seas. Alice Wellington Rollins, once wrote in Lippincott’s Magazine:
“To me, the Great Lakes will always mean Lake Superior. It is something unique in the geography of the world, and you have the consciousness of your actual height above the level of the sea as you rarely have on any elevated land that is not actually a mountain. There is something singularly impressive in the mere silence and vastness of our great northern solitudes.”
Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world by area, and Lake Michigan is the biggest lake that is in one country entirely. The lakes have been a significant highway for transportation, migration, trade, and are home to a large number of aquatic species.
Consider the magnificence of the Great Lakes. They can offer the joys of a relaxing summer getaway and they can bring treachery due to their impressive, ship-sinking storms. Write a poem about the beauty and majesty of the Great Lakes or the awe-inspiring and imposing storms born from them.
Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s poetry prompt. Here’s a poem from Rosanne we enjoyed: