So pretend you are marooned
on a deserted island
plenty of fish and fruits to keep you fed,
shelter and warmth, nothing around
to harm you and you tossed your message-
in-a-bottle out beyond the waves
so it’s on its way to bringing a rescue party
so all you need do is wait, and wait.
And remind yourself that
it could be worse:
you could be trapped with the Donner party
          in some frozen valley
          in the Sierra Nevadas
or lost in a cave without any light
or trapped under a collapsed building
or stuck in the Amazon jungle surrounded
          by angry natives
or marooned on Mars or the Moon
or imprisoned on Devil’s Island with no hope
          of escaping into any future at all.
Yes, it could be worse, it can always be worse.


© by Michael Estabrook.
Used with the author’s permission.