Message in a Bottle

There was magic in the water
as the sun turned down
and left all its silver fishes
shimmering like a diamond necklace
across the lake.

Soft muted moss swayed
with a lapping caress,
against the rock where
I sat in contemplation.

I saw a bottle floating,
where the water turned to waste
and muck like swamp goo.
It gently hit a rock in rhythm
and chimed with such delight,
I imagined its contents,
some cheap wine and stolen kisses
with the exposed midriff of love
on the naked open grass,
and this bottle,
maybe in a brown sack, passed;
and the sweet taste lingering
on soft open kisses
of two drunk on passion.

I looked closer,
hoping to glimpse a piece of paper
nestled there for me to find,
something that said…

"I have searched forever for you
just to find you here,
too late in this faded time
to kiss you,
but love sighs if you listen
to the caress of air that stirs
around the star-draped sky,
and you will find me there
lost and hungry for your taste."

Such interesting stories in the depth
of shallow, mellow drifting clutter
of a lake in a city:
An orange plastic bowling pin,
next to a flip flop,
next to matted fish line,
next to a Styrofoam cup,
and a coke can.

A story for each object left,
neglected or blown,
like a plastic bag across time
to lodge in exclamation
of the things that make us human.

I closed my eyes and listened
to the sand shifting,
with the sweet chime of my bottle
where a story grew,
and the radiant colored dream
burst and fell around me
like brown wings,

and for some reason I felt so sad.