Lake Michigan

Doug Tanoury

Lake Michigan is milky green marble

With veins of whitecaps foaming

From shore to distant sky

Water rising and falling and rolling

Is alive with waves and boils

In constant motion

The horizon is a band of deep blue

That separates the pale green water

From the soft blue hues of sky

In a lakescape speechless

Like a movie without sound

That plays muted movements

The gulls fly without call

And the wind is a mere whisper

Of film winding through a projector

As waves explode quietly white

On the breakwater that is the

Curved gray line that marks the shore

Like the silent soliloquy of a mute

Speaking the sign language of the deaf

Motion alone carries meaning