POEM: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Aug 08, 2026

For this poem, I combined the memories of two locations and experiences on a backpacking trip along Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

We’ve waded ankle-deep to kneel and fill
our filtered bottles from the lake stretched wide
on the horizon, where the waters spill
beyond our sight and off the sill that hides
the lowest quarter of the setting sun.
An eagle spies us from its perch upon
an overhanging tree, as if he’s some
befeathered gargoyle more fit for stone
clerestories than for these ancient cliffsides.
Look! Sudden colors burst through sandstone seams
to lend the waves a stippled, stained-glass shine;
these pictured rocks cannot contain the beams
that blaze through panes of stone. The brilliance of
this world has turned the cliffs along the strand
to chancel windows shining high above
our heads: they limn the waters where we stand.
And then the sun full sets into the lake.
The shadows deepen; in the veiling night
translucent cliffs again became opaque —
but we? We’ve waded ankle-deep in waves of light.