Message from a bottle

Hang in there, you. Take heart.
Be of brave, good cheer. Regard
the world with shining eye, and if
it won't meet your gaze, maybe
it's not lying. Maybe it's just shy.

I have learned from being here.

From birds, not how to sing but why,
from friends what enemies
are laughing at,
from the mirror
that my sad face looks
fake, and from you, that you'll

never help me practice it.

But a lesson like that is a piece of cake
- you can eat it, too. Falling off a log
with you, a lot depends on who lands
first, but it's not a race. In ancient days,
I might have been mistaken, enslaved,
worshipped as A GOD - and you, my
favorite sacrifice, but more likely,

the science fiction ending: unstuck
in time, place, parts of speech drifting
away and on your face, as always 
- facial features -
unreadable without the cereal box
top decoder ring. Send away,

I am receiving.