Aurora Borealis Lights Up Michigan Skies

Near Marquette, Michigan, on October 9, 2013

When I was twenty-one, I went camping in the northwoods on a granite outcropping that towered above the pine, birch, and cedar trees. It was about five miles west of Marquette in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

As night fell, the cosmic light show began. I can attest that it was much better than anything I had ever seen in the heyday of Detroit's Rock Mecca, The Grande Ballroom. 

The night sky inspired me to write a poem. That was forty-four years ago, and I haven't seen the Northern Lights or the poem since.

But as luck would have it, I found a wonderful photograph taken recently on October 9th, 2013, by Ryan Stephens that captures a glimpse of how beautiful the heavens were that night so long ago.

Todd and Brad Reed Photography took a photograph of the same event from Ludington, Michigan, in the Lower Peninsula for a different perspective.

Same event from Ludington, Michigan

By the way, I found the poem I wrote so many moons ago. I'm awash with good memories of great times with old friends.

 Northern Lights

Near Marquette,

encircled by woodwinded

dark moans and whistling howls,

lies a Sanctuary of Stone.

Above noise, above trees,

this towering mound is dwarfed

by a panorma

of star strewn sky

shooting waves 

of promenading luminary reflections,

streaking and undulating,

a spectacle of the heavens

stroked with hues of

incarnadine, emerald, and canary.

The only show -

the only sounds around.