Lake Michigan

I walk upon the lakeshore

Feeling sand under my feet

The wind whips around me,

Raindrops pelt my face

I look at the lake,

Colored a stormy gray-green

And I think to myself,

‘This is beauty’

I watch, as the storm unfolds

The angry waves rise, capped with white

I am alone, out here, by the lake

But I don’t mind

I am witness to beauty,

To power and might and anger,

To a storm on the lake

I see the lightning, bright and violent,

I hear the thunder, rolling and magnificent,

But I focus on the water,

The gray-green water, a mirror of the sky

And I wait, until the storm passes,

And still I stand, until night comes,

Until the sky clears and the full moon rises above the water

The now-dark water, a mirror of the sky

I can see the moonbeams, the silvery-gray moonbeams,

That travel from the moon to its twin on the lake

I can see the lighthouse, in the distance,

It’s beam, too, travels to the water

Making a reflection, a twin, on the lake

The stars come out, making constellations,

Perfect jewels suspended on dark blue velvet,

But they do not reflect,

Instead getting lost in the midnight-dark waves

I stand and watch, until it’s late

And I have to go, because it is not safe

I go home, to my boxed in walled-up bedroom,

And I long for the lake, for the feeling of water against my skin

I would even settle for the pool,

For the scent of chlorine and the feeling of damp blue tiles against my toes,

But it doesn’t compare to the lake, to the seemingly endless turquoise, stretching to the horizon

To the blue-green water, a mirror of the sky