Sea-Mail Letters in Bottles
Free Verse (#free) 30 July 2016by John Anderson © 2016 See Collection => Email comments and feedback to John
Snail mail is dying.
No one writes or sends hand-written letters any more.
But it's so nice to send or get a letter, hand written, anonymously, by sea drift post.
A message in a bottle is sea-mail, a letter posted by chance to no one, and everyone, perchance.
The uncertain fate and journey intrigues and inspires the sender.
Will the bottle and its letter survive?
Will it be found, and by whom?
Will the finder and reader respond?
What will the respondent say?
How far will the message travel; How long at sea?
It's such a surprise to find sea mail washed up on the beach.
Wrapped in barnacles, stained by sea, delivered by wave to post box beach
At first it looks like sea debris junk or litter
But wait, there's something inside that bottle, a message!
You prise out the yellow stained and faded message.
It's tough to get it out, like removing an oyster from its shell.
There's no stamp, no return address, no post mark.
Who is the message from? Why was it sent? What does it mean?
Where was it posted? When was it sent?
How long has it been at sea, bobbing about, driven by wind, wave and current?
Sending a response triggers a strange liaison, borne of coincidence and extreme chance.
It brings together complete strangers from other worlds across the sea.
Random mail is junk mail, but sea-mail by bottle is cherished and treasured.
It is something special. A letter by sea spewed from the ocean, a complete surprise.
Such messages in bottles have produced a wealth of outcomes.
Lifelong friendships, marriages, partnerships, overseas sponsored trips, knowledge of currents.
Outcomes unique to sea-mail messages in bottles, send with hope, delivered by chance, meaningful.
There is a delightful history for messages in bottles.