The Inland Seas, A Poem
Chris has written poetry for 28 years though he focuses on short fiction. But watch out for the occasional twisted nursery rhyme.
Great Lakes Boat, The Rising Sun, Just Before She Went Down in the Manitou Passage
This poem is my response to Ann Carr's challenge. She based her challenge on a hub by Patricia Scott. Ann challenged us to write a poem or prose on one of four topics introduced by Patricia Scott. The four choices were as follows:
- "Around the Corners"
- "Over the Hills"
- "Go Beneath the Waves"
- "Through the Wind"
My poem focuses on , "Go Beneath the Waves". The poem is about a part of Lake Michigan that is seven miles from my home. The photos feature the wreck of the Great Lakes Boat called, The Rising Sun. I have snorkeled around this wreck and it was a sureal experience. I want to share a link for a hub I wrote about this particular Great Lakes shipwreck, https://owlcation.com/humanities/Rising-Sun-Story-of-a-Great-Lakes-Shipwreck.
The Inland Seas
Halfway between the equator’s band
And the pole at the northern extreme
In the hemisphere west
Fresh waters thrash
Against the shores of two great countries.
Glaciers crept across the northern steppes
Then retreated to whence they came.
Ice carved, then melted
And filled the basins
Which man learned to navigate.
At parallel forty-five lay two isles
offshore of the sand dune main.
Waves struck their crafts
and sent them alas
To the depths and dark cold graves.
Natives called the dunes, Sleeping Bear.
The islands were her lost cubs.
Between mother and babes
Was called by shipmates,
The infamous Manitou Passage.
The Rising Sun Immediately After Going Down
Ships that skirted the passage lost days
But the shortcut was riddled with shoals,
Boulders delivered
From the north by glaciers,
Lay in wait for passing boats' hulls.
Many have navigated the passage,
Others failed and made it their last.
Sixty-eight lie at rest
In Manitou,
Their stories lost to the past.
The Rising Sun Today (Video Used By Permission)
© 2020 Chris Mills