The Great Lakes
Pellucid pearls in northeastern
North America since planetary birth
comprise Lakes Superior, Michigan,
Huron, Erie, and Ontario
(HOMES acronym) dearth
largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth
straddle Canadian–United States
border tethering partial global girth
constituting 21% of world's surface
fresh water species hearth
total surface equals 94,250 square miles
And total volume equals
5,439 cubic miles immeasurable worth.
Lake Erie from Erie tribe, abridged
form of Iroquoian word erielhonan “long tail”
Lake Huron named by French explorers
for Wyandot or “Hurons”
whence they did sail
Lake Michigan likely from Ojibwa word
mishigami “great water”
aka outsize gold quail
Lake Ontario i.e. “Lake of Shining Waters”
shimmering like hammered coat of mail
Lake Superior coined from French
“lac supérieur” "upper lake",
an emerald watery dale
Ojibwe people called it gitchigumi
medicinal to cure that, which might ail.
These five lakes each reside in separate basin
form a single, naturally interconnected
body of fresh water caisson
linking east-central interior
of North America to Atlantic Ocean
akin to an escutcheon.
From interior to outlet at St. Lawrence River,
water flows via Superior to Michigan-
Huron southward to Erie to avoid a shiver
finally released northward to Lake Ontario
as like a well taut archer with his quiver.
The lakes drain a large watershed
via many rivers as if a united olympic team
populated with approximately 35,000 islands
this estimate not x stream
the Great Lakes region contains
many thousands of smaller lakes,
often called inland lakes undulating
in cascading analogous to a fluid ream
Lake Michigan the only one located
entirely within United States
while the others border between
United States and Canada
essentially a liquid manifolded seam.
Lakes Michigan and Huron
basically comprise a single lake,
sometimes called Lake Michigan
Huron, combined doth make
total area of 45,300 square miles (117,000 km2)
have the same surface elevation of 577 feet (176 m),
connected by 295-foot deep Straits
of Mackinac Islands splayed like a rake.
Approximately 35,000 islands extant
throughout oceanic like sea
largest among them Manitoulin Island
in Lake Huron brushing up against Goliath knee.
Copyright © Matthew Harris | Year Posted 2018
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