02 May 2010

Message in a Bottle

Kelp cast a surreal green glow on Bainbridge’s
beaches the spring Selma unearthed the
bottle sticking up through rocky sand.
Battered blue glass obscured the paper
cork-sealed and scrolled in a velvet band.

Shelved in the kitchen, the bottle
blended in a cobalt sea where Selma
stored its secrets among butterscotch and tea.

~A message from a princess banished to an isle alone~
~A message from a starving man about to eat his own~

Everything that Selma saw involved a tragedy,
some soul set float long ago for strangers’ eyes to see.
Although the bottle beckoned her, she swore to leave it be.
The message might contain a curse to anyone who read it
it’s better left upon the shelf where she could only dread it.

Then, on her 80th birthday,
Selma popped the cork.
She slid the scroll into her hands,
unrolled it and began,

Seize the moment
Seize the day
Lest worries take your life away

7 comments:

lissa said...

so she missed out simply because of fear? nice descriptions

vivienne blake said...

Amen to that.

flaubert said...

I love the ending. So true.
Pamela

brenda w said...

Thanks for your comments. I picture Selma laughing aloud after she reads the message...all that anxiety rushing out...but left it to the reader.

Anonymous said...

I love a good story with my poems.
I like the kitchen's cobalt sea

Paul Oakley said...

Great irony!

Wayne Pitchko said...

indeed you seized the moment here.....well written and thanks for sharing this