Message in a Bottle

by Unknown

Chapter 1

I use the pulse of waves to track the time.
But recently it’s slowed – far beyond design.
I count the seconds with each pulse of mine.

No ocean I’ve ever seen looked like this.
Islands don’t feel as wrong, either.
A cracked radio is the only remaining bliss.

At night, when the voices start to call,
I blind them with the power of the stars–
too bright, I fear, for any world at all.

There’s a sign above me, where I lay.
The one I was born under, come what may.
It demands for my final words, which I must say.

Getting to this island, I’ve never felt any bit alone,
like rhythm from mangroves carving through stone.
Instead, being trapped feels like coronation on a throne.

I have written this message a hundred times,
but the wrong words have too many rhymes,
and the warnings feel more like cosmic crimes.

If you’re reading my final words in this glass,
heed my warning, do not follow the pass.
I too dreamed of exploration, of journey, alas.

For now, I will keep calling until the frequency forgets my name.
The cork is pressed. The ink is dry. There is no one left to blame.
I cast this glass into the dark waters from whence I came.