The Wanderer
Caitlin Shana Wilson
Upheaved
Torn
Cradled within a womb of ice
Moving
You were an eternal traveler
Carving
Birthed far from your home
Alien
You watched as your mother left you
Deposited
Did you morn?
Stillness
Static
My dear glacial erratic
The above photo features a glacial erratic, which are rocks that are picked up and carried by glacial ice. The erratics are carried long distances and are eventually deposited, left to stand sentinel wherever they land. Michigan’s last glacier retreated anywhere from 11,000 to 9,000 years ago but left the lasting mark of curating the geological features that make Michigan the remarkable Mitten State.
The Laurentide Ice Sheet carved the Great Lakes and deposited sentinel glacial erratics, and for that I am eternally grateful.